Mwambete Kennedy D, Justin-Temu Mary, Peter Sharon
Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, MUHAS, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
J Int Assoc Physicians AIDS Care (Chic). 2010 May-Jun;9(3):150-6. doi: 10.1177/1545109710368138.
A cross-sectional study was conducted at Muhimbili National Hospital (Tanzania) to determine prevalence of helminthiasis among in-patients with HIV/AIDS.
After signing an informed consent form, participants answered a sociodemographic and risk factor questionnaire. Fecal specimens from patients with HIV-infected and uninfected patients were screened for intestinal helminthiasis (IHLs) using coprological methods.
A total of 146 patients were recruited, of those 66 were HIV-negative while 80 were HIV-negative patients. Thirty-five patients (12 HIV/AIDS and 23 non-HIV/AIDS) had helminthic infections. Hookworms were the most frequently detected helminths among patients living with HIV/AIDS (13.6%) and HIV-negative patients (17.5%), followed by schistosomiasis (9%) detected among HIV-negative individuals only.
Prevalence of helminthiases (HLs) was observed to be relatively lower among HIV-infected than uninfected patients, which is ascribable to prophylactic measures adopted for patients with HIV/AIDS. Thus, it is recommended that routine screening for HLs and prophylactic measures should be adopted for the improvement of patients' health status.