Background: Intestinal parasitosis (IP) is an important public health problem worldwide, most commonly seen in school age children and lead to nutritional deficiency, anemia and impaired cognition. Dearth of data regarding parasitic prevalence in the pediatric population triggered such a retrospective study planned by the Departments of Pediatrics and Microbiology, of two Medical Colleges whereby all the symptomatic children (>1 year and <12 years, divided into less than 5 year and 5-12 year groups) were examined for IP.Methods: Total 1000 parasite positive stool samples were collected for a period of two years and included for the study. Routine macroscopic and microscopic (saline and Lugol’s iodine wet mounts) examinations were carried out for the presence of ova, cysts and parasites.Results: Out of the 1000 positive samples, Enterobius vermicularis was predominant with 287 (28.7%) of all cases. The next in order were Giardia lamblia 243 (24.3%), Entamoeba histolytica 219 (21.9%), Ascaris lumbricoides 143 (14.3%), Ancylostoma duodenale 39 (3.9%), Taenia 27 (2.7%) and others 42 (4.2%). The distribution of parasites were heavier among the 5 to 12 year group (74.6%) than the below 5 year one (25.4%), with single parasitic isolate. Lack of hygienic practices like open field defecation, faecal contamination of water and improper hand washing aggravate infestation.Conclusions: Thus our study revealed that steps are to be taken by both the government and society to promote healthcare awareness in mothers, and mass scale deworming through school campaigns in order to lower the parasitic burden in children.

Background: Intestinal parasitic infections (IPI) are recognized as neglected tropical diseases. Inadequacy of epidemiological data reporting the prevalence of intestinal parasites among the general population prompted this retrospective study conducted among the Departments of Medicine and Microbiology of two medical colleges.Methods: All the symptomatic patients were examined for IPI.  831 parasite positive stool samples were included for the study. The age range of the patients were above 18 years. Stool specimens were processed using formol-ether concentration technique. Routine microscopic examination (saline and Lugol’s iodine mounts) were carried out for ova, cysts or parasites. The sample was partly preserved in 10% formal saline and later concentrated and fixed with methanol before staining by modified Ziehl Neelsen stain. Results: Out of the 831 positive samples, E. histolytica was predominant with 337 (40.55%) of all cases. The next in order were Giarrdia lamblia 216 (25.99%), A. lumbricoides with 173 (20.81%), E. vermicularis with 43 (5.17%), A. duodenale with 23 (2.76%), H. nana with 19 (2.28%), S. stercoralis with 17 (2.04%) and Taenia with 3 (0.36%). 134 patients had double parasites isolated, while only 3 had triple parasitic infestation.Conclusion: Present study showed a preponderance in gender towards males (59.4%) than females (40.5%). Larger sample size and more surveillance studies will help to establish effective measures and evidence-based approaches to curb the parasitic proliferation in this region.

Sputum microscopy is the most important tool for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in peripheral laboratories. Sodium hypochlorite concentration technique prior to sputum microscopy may improve the detection of AFB bacilli over direct Ziehl Neelsen’s staining method. A prospective study was conducted at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal. Consecutive sputum samples were collected for 3 months. ZN stained smears were made directly of fresh specimens and of specimens that were processed with 3.5% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), from each patient. Then, ZN stained smears were observed under light microscopy. A total of 239 samples were collected. The yield of positive smears with ZN staining after NaOCl centrifugation was higher than that with microscopy after direct ZN stain. The percentage increase yield of ZN staining after NaOCl centrifugation over direct ZN staining was 3.3% (8/239). Bleach centrifugation can help in increasing the yield of positivity in sputum smear.

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