HUMAN TRICHOSTRONGYLIASIS: A HOSPITAL CASE SERIES

Trichostrongylus is a common nematode found to infect livestock throughout the tropics and can cause accidental zoonosis in humans. In the Lao PDR and Thailand, cases of human trichostrongyliasis have been reported sporadically but clinical data are limited. We retrospectively reviewed 41 cases of trichostrongyliasis who presented to Srinagarind Hospital, Thailand from 2005 to 2012. The diagnosis of trichostrongyliasis was made by finding their eggs in the stool of patients. Of the 41 cases reviewed, 30 were Thais and 11 from the Lao PDR; their age range was 26-86 years. Fifty-eight point five percent of the cases were male, 56.1% had a primary school or a lower education level, 56.1% were farmers or laborers, 63.4% lived in a rural area and 95.1% had underlying disease. Twenty-one patients were co-infected with Opisthorchis viverrini (14/21; 66.7%) and Strongyloides stercoralis (10/21; 47.6%) while the remaining (n = 20) had a single infection with Trichostrongylus only. All the trichostrongyliasis only patients who had underlying disease not related to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract had normal bowel habits and normal grossly appearing stool. GI symptoms, such as abdominal pain, flatulence, bloating, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, diarrhea and constipation, were not found in these patients suggesting they had a light infection. This study is the first report of the clinical features of a trichostrongyliasis case series from tertiary care hospital in Thailand.