Critical evaluation of the intestinal Protozoan parasites among Libyan and other African residents of Al-Khoms, Libya

Abstract

Scrutiny of stools of 1250 Libyan and 1133 other African residents of Al-Khoms, Libya, during June, 2012 to May, 2013, revealed that 15.4% of the former and 25.1% of the latter contained the cysts and/or trophozoites of nine intestinal Protozoan parasites. The pathogenic among them were Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba dispar (recent studies confirm that E. dispar is a pathogen), and Giardia lamblia. Whether the fourth parasite Blastocystis hominis is a pathogen or a commensal is still not clear. The nonpathogenics were Entamoeba coli, Endolimax nana, Chilomastix mesnili, Entamoeba hartmanni and Iodamoeba buetschlii. The trophozoites of C. mesnili were found in the stools of Libyans only, whereas the cysts of E. hartmanni and I. buetschlii were detected in the stools of other Africans. Detailed observations were made on the single and concurrent parasitic occurrences among the two groups. Significant difference in the proportion of infection rates (F=0.22; p>0.05), and single (F=0.000; p>0.05) and concurrent (F=0.01; p>0.05) parasitic occurrences between Libyans and other Africans were not discernible. The importance of adopting preventive measures to control the spread of these parasites is stressed.