Department of Medical Parasitology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India.
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India.
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2021 Nov 1;115(11):1345-1347. doi: 10.1093/trstmh/trab142.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in the immunosuppressed population worldwide due to the disease pathology and extensive use of corticosteroids. This has subsequently increased the risk of opportunistic parasitic infections such as Toxoplasma gondii, Strongyloides stercoralis and other parasites in these patients. The reactivation of such parasites may remain unnoticed due to overlapping symptoms, the difficulty of diagnosis and lack of guidelines for opportunistic parasitic infections in COVID-19 management. Therefore, recommendations for systematic screening of high-risk patients in endemic regions and active research and surveillance to estimate the impact of these infections are required in COVID-19 policy guidelines.
由于疾病病理和广泛使用皮质类固醇,COVID-19 大流行导致全球免疫抑制人群显著增加。这继而增加了这些患者发生机会性寄生虫感染的风险,如刚地弓形虫、粪类圆线虫和其他寄生虫。由于重叠症状、诊断困难以及 COVID-19 管理中缺乏机会性寄生虫感染指南,这些寄生虫的再激活可能未被注意到。因此,需要在 COVID-19 政策指南中建议对流行地区的高危患者进行系统筛查,并积极开展研究和监测,以评估这些感染的影响。