Comparison of infection rate of intestinal protozoa in Jelooanam-do and Incheon

초록

Intestinal protozoa is one of the major causes of diarrheal diseases, but there is a limit to general microscopic diagnosis. So in this study, we used the polymerase chain reaction(PCR) assay which is known to be one of the most sensitive diagnostic methods for detection of five species of protozoan parasite, i.e., Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, Cyclospora cayetanensis and Blastocystis homoinis. Of the 1,063 stool samples, 463 were collected from Incheon, 600 were collected from Jeollanam-do. Moreover, we compared infection rates and factors of the domestic major intestinal protozoa in the urban and rural areas. In Jeollanam-do, of the specimens, 4.8% were determined as protozoa-positive. Among positive samples, 0.3% were G.lamblia, 1.3% were C. parvum, and 3.2% were B. hominis. In Incheon, of the specimens, 1.7% were positive for intestinal protozoa. Among positive samples, 0.3% were C. parvum 1.3% were B. hominis, and 0.2% were C. cayetanensis. Jeollanam-do which is rural has a higher infection rate than Incheon which is urban, especially B. hominis. This suggests that rural areas are more susceptible to infection than urban areas, depending on the living environment, residence, and occupation. In this study, we used PCR for diagnostic of protozoa in stool samples and in order to establish a more accurate diagnostic method, it will be important to investigate the distribution of domestic intestinal protozoa continuously.