Abstract

A research study on prevalence of intestinal parasitism among HIV positive patients attending Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto between January-September 2010 was conducted. A total of 315 stool samples were collected; 205 samples were obtained from confirmed HIV/AIDS positive patients and 105 samples from HIV negative patients. These samples were examined using saline preparation, iodine preparation, formol ether concentration technique and modified cold Ziehl Neelsen staining technique. The prevalence rate of parasitic infection in HIV positive patients was 20.5% with the following parasites Cryptosporidium parvum 19(9.3%), Hookworm 6(2.9%), Giardia lamblia 13(6.3%), Taenia spp 2(1%), and Entamoeba histolytica 2(1 %). While in the HIV negative patients examined, the prevalence of parasitic infection was 11.8% with the following Hookworm 5(4.5%), E. histolytica 2(2%), G. lamblia 3(3%) and Ascaris lumbricoides 3(3%). Gender distribution of the intestinal parasitism shows that male patients had 17% infection rate while in the female group 3% infection rate was recorded. There is no significant (P>0.05) association between the gender and parasitic infection.

Key words: Intestinal parasite, HIV Seropositive and HIV Seronegative Patient