Impact of giardiasis on hematological profile of infected children

Abstract

Giardiasis is a gastrointestinal disease caused by protozoan parasite Giardia intestinalis. It is known to infect a wide range of mammals including humans. The present study was carried out to study the impact of Giardiasis on hematological parameters of children in district Anantnag of Kashmir valley, India. The study was carried out on 268 children of both gender whose stool samples were processed through Direct Smear method and Formol Ether concentration technique. After confirming their results for Giardiasis, certain examinations of blood parameters were then carried out for 44 children which included total leukocyte count, differential leukocyte count, Hemoglobin and hematocrit values. Hemoglobin value and hematocrit values were estimated by Sahli’s Acid Hematin method and Wintrobe’s method, respectively. The white blood cell (WBC) count was done with the help of hemocytometer and differential counting was done by using Leishmann’s staining method. Finally data was analysed by Minitab software and Student’s t-test was used to determine the significance of difference between mean values in each group. The results showed a significant decrease in mean values of hemoglobin from 11.15±1.23 to 10.05±2.04 in males and 11.36±1.15 to 10.08±0.80 in females. The mean values of hematocrit also showed a decrease in their values between infected and uninfected children from 36.2±1.72 to 32.6±2.80 in males and 36.14±1.19 to 32.22±1.62 in females. In case of WBC count, a significant increase in the total number of WBCs was observed in case of infected children from 7.96±0.33 to 9.38±0.61. With respect to differential leukocyte count, eosinophils showed a marked increase in their number in infected individuals (5.0±0.71) in comparison to uninfected ones (3.2±0.44) while slight differences were noticed in case of other white blood cells which were not statistically significant. The results showed that Giardiasis is responsible for decrease in hemoglobin and hematocrit values and increase in total leukocyte count in infected children.