Sero-prevalence study of parasitic infections among HIV positive and Negative patients in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Diseases caused by opportunistic pathogens are the major clinical signs of HIV infected and AIDS patients with parasitic infection being part of the common causes of morbidity and mortality. Objectives: This was a cross-sectional study to determine the sero-prevalence of serum antibodies to three parasitic infections namely Entamoeba histolytica, Schistosoma sp. and Toxoplasma gondii, which are opportunistic infections among HIV/AIDS patients. Methods: One thousand and eighty patients that attended three healthcare institutions in Lagos were recruited for the study through convenience sampling method. Venous blood was collected from the recruited patients and screened for HIV infection as well as the presence of serum antibodies to three parasitic infections. All positive sera samples were confirmed for HIV infection. Result: The results revealed that 65/1080 (6%) of the recruited patients were HIV sero-positive. In addition, 5/65 (7.7%) of the HIV positive patients had E. histolytica co-infection, 1/65 (1.5%) had Schistosoma sp. co-infection while 2/65 (3.1%) had T. gondii co-infection. The results also indicated that the proportion of patients with E. histolytica was significantly higher among HIV sero-positive patients than the sero-negative patients (P = 0.031). Conclusion: The study showed the opportunistic potential of the three parasitic infections among HIV/AIDS patients in the study area.