ABSTRACT

An investigation of Blastocystis hominis (B. hominis) prevalance in 17756 patients with gastrointestinal system complaints who presented at the parasitology laboratory of the Dokuz Eylul University Medical Faculty Hospital between January 2005 and December 2009 was carried out.

Fecal samples of all patients were examined using the native-Lugol and trichrome and Kinyoun acid-fast staining method after sedimentation in fecal concentration tubes.

One or more parasites were detected in 1510 (8.50%) of the patients. The distribution of the intestinal parasites was as follows: B. hominis 778 (4.38%), nonpathogenic amoebas 343 (1.93%), Giardia intestinalis (G. intestinalis) 205 (1,15%), Enterobius vermicularis (E. vermicularis) 46 (0.25%), Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar (E. histolytica/E. dispar) 34 (0.19%), and other rare parasites 104 (0.58%). The most frequently seen parasite was B. hominis in fecal samples of patients with gastrointestinal complaints in our study. Distribution of 778 patients with B. hominis due to parasite forms was determined as: vacuolar in 525 (67.49%), granular in 115 (14.78%), both vacuolar and granular in 138 (17.73%) cases.

As B. hominis was the most frequently seen parasite in patients with gastrointestinal complaints, we suggest that the parasite should be considered as pathogenic and sufficient attention must be paid in routine stool examinations.

Keywords: B. hominis, gastrointestinal complaints