Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
13th World Congress of the World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID 2023), Durban, Güney Afrika, 14 - 17 Kasım 2023, Durban, Güney Afrika, 14 - 17 Kasım 2023, ss.262-263
EP059 / #487 Topic: AS04 Common and neglected tropical Infections and parasitic infections
BLASTOCYSTIS PREVALENCE IN CHILDREN: A REVIEW OF CASES IN TURKEY AND THE WORLD
Nihal Dogan Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Microbiology/parasitology, Eskisehir, Turkey
Background: Blastocystis is a globally distributed parasite with varying incidence in different geographical areas. The pleomorphic nature of the protozoan, due to its numerous subspecies, leads to a lack of understanding of its possible pathogenesis and confusion about its clinical significance. Aims: Blastocystis incidence and subspecies relationship in children admitted to our hospital with gastrointestinal complaints were compared with epidemiological data from Turkey and the world.
Methods: All specimens received in the Parasitology laboratory of ESOGU Medical Faculty Hospital . During a 149-month period, the computer data of paediatric patients were retrospectively reviewed and evaluated comparatively with the epidemiological data of Blastocystis sp. and subspecies in paediatric patients in different geographies of Turkey and the world.
Results: Between 2010 and 2023, a total of 12,780 stool samples sent from the Department of Paediatrics for gastrointestinal complaints were examined in the Parasitology Laboratory of ESOGU Medical Faculty Hospital. The presence of Blastocytis hominis was microscopically identified in 632 samples (5.7%). The presence of Blastocystis was determined as 371 (2.9%) in males , 361 (2.8%) in females. The most frequently detected subtypes in positive cases were ST1, ST2 and ST3, respectively. Our findings are similar to epidemiological data from Turkey and different geographical regions of the world. The highest incidence in children was reported from Asian and Australian countries (3-54%).
Conclusions: Although some of the literatures describe the presence of Blastocystis as microbiota
enrichment, there is also a dominant view that the presence of the parasite causes various autoimmune
diseases and gastrointestinal complaints.