PREVALENCE OF INTESTINAL PARASITES IN ADULT PATIENTS WITH ENTEROPATHIC AIDS IN NORTH-EASTERN TANZANIA

A six month study was conducted in north-eastern Tanzania to determine the prevalence of pathogenic intestinal parasites among adult patient s with enteropathic AIDS, A total of 352 patients were recruited of wh om 158 (45%) had chronic diarrhoea, Of the 352 patients, 123 (35%) had intestinal parasites, Of the 123, 77 (62.6%) patients had chronic dia rrhoea, The types of parasites detected were Cryptosporidium, Isospora belli, Strongyloides stercoralis, Schistosoma mansoni Trichuris trich iura Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm and Entamoeba histolytica. The pre valence of intestinal parasites was significantly higher in patients w ith chronic diarrhoea than in those without (P < 0.05). Cryptosporidiu m and Isospora belli were only detected in patients with chronic diarr hoea and were thus the most likely cause of the diarrhoea, This study has established that coccidian parasites are the most important gut op portunistic infections in Tanzanian patients with enteropathic AIDS, T he fact that a high proportion of patients with chronic diarrhoea (51. 3%) had no identifiable parasitic agents, suggests that other infectio us agents or alternative mechanisms other than infections are responsi ble for the diarrhoea.