Blastocystis Infection

Any Infection with blastocystis is called blastocystosis. Blastocystis hominis is one common type of parasite which can be found in stools of healthy peoples also as well as peoples, who are suffering from Diarrhea, Abdominal Pain, or any other gastrointestinal discomfort.

There are some type of blastocystis, which can cause synptomatic infection along with other types of infection. However, normally these parasite simply remains in the gut and do not affect in general.

There is as such no treatment for blastocystosis, and the infection usually gets clear on its own. However, if signs and symptoms do not improve within a time period, a doctor may recommend some medicine. Research in this area is still going on, but researchers have not reached to a conclusion of exact cause of Blastocytosis.

Undernutrition and intestinal parasitic infections affect childhood development and morbidity in many developing countries. Undernutrition may increase susceptibility to parasitic infections which in turn impair the nutritional status of the host. The relationship between intestinal parasitic infections and nutritional status in 400 Mexican schoolchildren was investigated. More than half of the children in the study showed intestinal parasites and polyparasitism. The prevalence of helminth infections was significantly higher in Oaxaca than in Sinaloa (P < 0.05). Z scores for weight-for-age (WA) and height-for-age (HA) were much lower in children of Oaxaca than in Sinaloa (P < 0.001). A significantly higher Z score for weight-for-height (WH), WA, and HA were found in non-infected versus infected children (P < 0.05). Higher prevalences of intestinal infections were found in children with lower HA and WA than in normally nourished children (P < 0.05). Higher intensities of Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura were found in the schoolchildren of Sinaloa than in Oaxaca (P < 0.01). Negative and significant associations were found between Hymenolepis nana and T. trichiura infection (eggs per gram) and nutritional status. Intestinal parasitic infections may be regarded as main risk factors associated with poor nutritional status in Mexican schoolchildren.