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| Year : 1986 | Volume
: 32
| Issue : 4 | Page : 219-24 |
Ten year study of stool samples with particular reference to intestinal parasites.
Patel JC
How to cite this article:
Patel J C. Ten year study of stool samples with particular reference to intestinal parasites. J Postgrad Med 1986;32:219 |
There is paucity of information on the prevalence of different types of helminthic and parasitic infestations in different age groups in different parts of India. This kind of information has been obtained in the past (a) by population studies[1], [4], [5], [7], [8] and (b) by analysis of reports of stool samples received in pathology laboratory.[2], [3], [6] The former gives us the prevalence of different types of parasitic infestation in the population and the latter about the symptomatic patients. In the present study, I have analysed the reports of 36,000 stool samples received in Bombay Hospital which is a large private hospital in Bombay. The department of pathology of the hospital caters to not only the inpatients but also to the outpatients and a very large number of patients referred by practising doctors all over Bombay. The purpose of this study watt to obtain information as regards to the frequency of different types of helminthic and parasitic infestation in symptomatic patients.
During the period 1966 to 1975, 1,17,503 stool samples had been examined in the pathology department of Bombay Hospital. These samples came from inpatients and outpatients of the hospital and from other people in Bombay. A systematic sample of 36,000 reports from these 1,17,503 reports was selected for. analysis. From 1966 to 1971 the reports of samples received in laboratory on the 1st, 7th, 13th, 19th and 25th of each month were analysed. From 1972 to 1975, the reports of samples received in the laboratory on 1st, 11th and 21st of each month were analysed. The data was analysed for the distribution of positive samples of helminths and protozoa in males and females. and in different age groups, and for the distribution of positive samples in the different months of the year. The data was analysed with the help of the statisticians of the Computer Maintenance Corporation of India.
[Table - 1] shows that 61.7% of the total 36,000 samples were from males and 38.3% were from females. About seventy five percent of samples in both males and females were positive for either helminth or protozoal infestation. Columns 1 and 4 in [Table - 2] show the age distribution of the patients (males and females) from whom the positive samples were obtained. Columns 2, 3, 5 and 6 show the number of samples in each age group (males and females separately) that were positive for helminths and for protozoa. The proportion of positive samples was similar in males and females but distinctly decreased as age advanced.
[Table - 3] shows the distribution of positive stool samples according to the helminthes and the sex of the patients. The commonest helminthes in both males and females were A. lumbricoides, T. trichura, A. duodenale, H. nana and E. vermicularies.
[Table - 4] shows the distribution of positive stool samples according to the helminths and the age of the patients. It can be seen that positivity for A. lumbricoides was the highest in under 5 age group. It was similar in all age groups in the case of T. trichura; whereas it was distinctly lower in below-10 age group than in the older age groups in the case of A. duodenale. There was no significant sex difference in the distributions.
[Table - 5] shows the distribution of positive stool samples according to protozoa and the sex of the patients. The commonest protozoa encountered were E. histolytica. G. lamblia, E. coli and T. hominis. There was no sex difference in these distributions.
[Table - 6] shows the distribution of positive samples according to the protozoa and the age of the patients. It is evident that the positivity of samples for E. histolytica and E. coli was distinctly lower in under 5 age group than in all other age groups whereas it was distinctly higher for G. lamblia in under five age groups than any other age groups. There was no sex difference between these distributions.
Analysis of the positive stools season-wise showed no significant difference in the case of different helminths and protozoa except in the case of Heterodera radicicola. In the case of this helminth, the positive samples seemed to cluster in the quarter of September, October and November.
The present study showed a very high positivity of stool samples for protozoal infection (39.4%) as well as for helminthic infestation (35.5%). The overall positivity for intestinal parasites was 75% which is quite high compared to the observations made by Prakash and Tandon (38.1%).[3] A similar study was also carried out by Shrivastava6 in Bombay in 1953. Positivity, of stools for Ascaris lumbricoides way found to be high (35.7%) in our study compared to that (22.2%) found by Shrivastava.[6] Prakash and Tandon[3] found only 0.6% of the stool samples having Ascaris lumbricoides. Stool positivity for Ankylostoma duodenale was 20.8%, consistent with the observation made by Shrivastava[6] (21.5%) and was higher compared to findings of Prakash and Tandon[3] (10.1%)[3] E. histolytica was found to be present in 39.7% of samples, in the present study. Patel[2] has reported 43.3% positivity for E. histolytica, Prakash and Tandon[2] and Shrivastava[6] reported 35.6% and 18.4% positivity for the same respectively. Giardia, lamblia was found in 25.5% the sample, in the present study compared to 21.5% in Shrivastava's[6] study and 10.1% in the study of .Prakash and Tandon[3]. Trichuri trichura was present in 32.4% of the samples very high compared to the findings of Prakash and Tandon.[3]
I thank the Trustees and Superintendent of the Bombay Hospital. and also the technical staff from the Laboratory. I also acknowledge the help with gratitude from the Managing Director and his staff of Computer Maintenance Corporation of India. sincerely thank Mr. P. V. Patel and Mr. S. Ramchandran for actively helping me it, the preparation of the paper.
| 1. | Gadgil. S. D., Kulkarni, S. S., Apte, V. V. and Nanivadekar. A. S.: Intestinal nematode infection in India; a cross-sectional survey. J. Postgrad. Med., 30: 137-143, 1984.  |
| 2. | Patel, J. C., Incidence of amoebiasis in Bombay. Ind. Physician, 4: 244-247, 1945. |
| 3. | Prakash, O. and Tandon, B. N.: Intestinal parasites with special reference to Entamoeha histolytica complex as revealed by routine concentration and cultural examination of stool samples from patient with gastro-intestinal symptoms. Ind. J. Med. Res., 54: 10-14, 1966. |
| 4. | Rao, C. K., Krishnaswamy, A. K. and Biswas. H.: Prevalence of intestinal parasites in selected villages of Mahasn district, Himachal Pradesh. Ind. J. Med. Rev., 59: 1959-1965, 1971. |
| 5. | Sharma, R. D., Bansal, R. D. and Sharma, A. N.: Pathogenic intestinal parasites in New Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh. J. Ind. Med. Assoc., 64: 255-258, 1975. |
| 6. | Shrivastava, J. B.: A survey of the intestinal parasites in human population in Bombay with special reference to Entamoeba histolytica. Ind. J. Med. Res., 41: 397-414, 1953. |
| 7. | Sinha, A. K. and Sahai, B. N.: Prevalence of hookworm and other parasites in men of Patna; Bihar. Ind. J. Public Health, 21: 29-33, 1977. |
| 8. | Vidyarthi, S. S.: Prevalence of intestinal parasites in Lucknow. Ind. J. Med. Sc., 23: 654-660, 1969 |
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