A Study of the Prevalence of Intestinal parasites for patients with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis

Abstract

Background & Aim: Intestinal parasites infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality for  immunodeficiency patients; including patients with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis.

The study aims to determine the most important intestinal parasites and their prevalence for patients with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis, as they are immunocompromised in comparison with a group of healthy people. 

Materials & Methods: The study has been conducted on 150 patients (80 female,70 males) aged  between 13 -79 years , divided into two groups; the first group is 75 patients (43 females,32 males) with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis for a period of no less than 6 months, twice a week. The second group is the control group with 75 participants (36 females,39 males) who are healthy people, from which stool samples were examined  microscopically to determine the intestinal parasite and its prevalence and a comparison between the two groups was drawn.            

Results: the result have shown:

The prevalence rate in the patient group was 64% compared to 17.3% in the control group (OR=8.47, P value=0.0003), the most common parasites in the patient group were: Blastocystis hominis 28%, Giardia 14.6%, Entamoeba histolytica 10.6%, Entamoeba coli 5.3%, Cryptosporidium 2.6%, Iodamoeba butschilii 1.3%, Chilomastix mesnilii 1.3%, while in the control group was: Blastocystis hominis 9.3%, Entamoeba histolytica 2.6%, Entamoeba coli 2.6%, Giardia 1.3%, Iodamoeba butschilii 1.3%. 

Conclusions: the statistics study has shown a strong correlation between the presence of intestinal parasites and patients with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis, compared to healthy people. Therefore, we recommend a routine stool examination for the patients to investigate the presence of  intestinal parasites and treat these parasistes.