FROM ACTA TROPICA
The intestinal parasite Giardia lamblia assemblage B was more likely in people with HIV than in people without HIV, according to research published in Acta Tropica.
Of the 65 patients with G. lamblia included in a study undertaken by Clarissa Perez Faria, PhD, and her associates at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), 38 were HIV positive, 27 were HIV negative, and 60 patients were microscopy-positive for G. lamblia. In the HIV-positive group, 19 of the 34 microscopy-positive samples were assemblage B, and 15 were assemblage A. In the HIV-negative group, 9 of the 26 microscopy-positive samples were assemblage B, and 17 were assemblage A.
In HIV-positive patients with assemblage B G. lamblia, nine had CD4 T-cell count below 200 cells/mm3. Also, of the 21 cases which were symptomatic, 16 were in HIV-positive patients, and 11 of those 16 were assemblage B. The researchers said assemblage B infection is associated particularly with symptoms such as abdominal pain, asthenia, diarrhea, fever, headache, and myalgia.
“HIV infection increases the risk of having intestinal parasitic infections, including G. lamblia. The detection and treatment of infections are important measures to improve the quality of life of HIV-infected patients,” the investigators concluded.
Find the full study in Acta Tropica ( doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2017.04.026 ).
