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Updated: May 4, 2026

Comparative Analysis of Automatic Fecal Analyzer versus Direct Wet Smear Microscopy for Detecting Parasitic Infections in Stool Samples
Published on: April 25, 2025
Intestinal protozoans in adults with diarrhea
Muktikesh Dash1, Sanghamitra Padhi1, Pritilata Panda1
1Department of Microbiology, Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur University, Odisha, India.
Background:
Diarrhea is one of the most common presenting complaints in human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals.
Aims:
The study was designed to determine the magnitude of opportunistic and nonopportunistic intestinal parasitic infections among diarrheal patients and association between CD4(+) T-cell counts and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected intestinal parasites.
Materials And Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 207 enrolled diarrheal patients attending HIV integrated counseling and testing center from January 2012 to December 2012. Stool samples were subjected to special modified Ziehl-Neelsen and chromotrope staining method for detection of opportunistic protozoans. Blood samples were also collected from all study subjects for HIV testing and CD4(+) T-cell counts were estimated by only in HIV-infected patients.
Results:
Intestinal parasitic pathogens were detected in 46.1% HIV-infected patients and the major pathogens were opportunistic protozoans 32.2% (37/115), most common being Isospora belli 16.5% (19/115) followed by Cryptosporidium parvum 12.2% (14/115). In HIV noninfected diarrheal patients, major pathogens detected were Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar 8.7% (8/92) and Ascaris lumbricoides 3.3% (3/92).
Conclusions:
The opportunistic intestinal protozoans especially I. belli and C. parvum were most commonly isolated in HIV-infected patients with diarrhea. Majority of the infections occurred in patients when a CD4(+) T-cell counts were less than 200 cells/μl.
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