The Distribution of Intestinal Parasites in Patients Presenting to a University Hospital in Istanbul: A Seven-year Retrospective Analysis

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the intestinal parasite distributions in patients who applied to the Parasitology Laboratory of Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, by evaluating the parasites retrospectively.

Methods: Normal saline and stool lugol were applied for direct examination of stool samples that were sent for parasite examination; cellophane band samples were evaluated microscopically. The samples suspected to have protozoa were evaluated using modified acid fast and trichrome staining methods. We evaluated the parasitological examination results of patients who applied to our laboratory between January 2012 and December 2018.

Results: A total of 2.96% of the 20,948 patients who applied had parasites in their faeces. Blastocystis spp. was detected at the highest rate (63.23%), followed by Giardia intestinalis (17.26%), Enterobius vermicularis (12.58%), Taenia saginata (2.42%), Cryptosporidium spp. (1.94%) and Entamoeba histolytica/dispar (1.45%).

Conclusion: Although the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections has decreased when compared to previous years, it still remains important. For this reason, solving infrastructure problems, providing information on personal hygiene and sanitation rules are among the most important tasks needed to reduce the prevalence of intestinal parasites.