BACKGROUND: Cryptosporidium sp. is an apicomplexan protozoa, and it is related to an immunocompromised state. As it develops diverse clinical manifestations, mild to life-threatening conditions, administration of anti-parasitic medication and its management remain problematic. AIM: The study aimed to provide Cryptosporidiosis symptomatology and its prevalence among HIV-infected patients in a tertiary referral hospital, Haji Adam Malik General Hospital, Medan, Indonesia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Symptomatology was noted using short-questionnaire, and laboratory findings were obtained from the hospital medical record registry on the same day of admission. We enrolled 24 patients were suffered from HIV infection for a certain period and more than one-week diarrhoea including 18 males and 6 females. Routine faeces examination using wet mount, Kinyoun-gabet, and trichrome staining was performed for all samples in Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia. Numerical data were evaluated using the Mann-Whitney test while Fisher Exact test was used to determine any association between categorical variables. RESULTS: Our study found that 8 of 24 patients were positive with Cryptosporidium sp. while its symptomatology including abdominal cramp (66.7%), nausea and vomiting (70.8%), and fever (62.5%) is prevalent from our study. We obtained significant association between CD4 cell count (p = 0.006), diarrhea duration (p = 0.007), abdominal pain (p = 0.005), and nausea and vomiting (p = 0.021) with cryptosporidiosis. CONCLUSION: High consideration of several symptoms related to cryptosporidiosis leads a clinician to initiate prompt management particularly in a high-risk population.

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by infection of Toxoplasma gondii, Which may cause a life-threatening condition in immunocompromised patients, for example, Toxoplasma encephalitis (TE). It is challenging to diagnose Toxoplasma as a cause of central nervous system (CNS) infection in HIV patient, so we need an alternative method, which is a PCR detection of Toxoplasma gondii B1 gene.Objective: This research aimed to find association between PCR methods for Toxoplasma gondii B1 gene and anti-Toxoplasma IgG from cerebral spinal fluid patient HIV AIDS.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples of HIV patients with neurological symptoms to determine Toxoplasma gondii infection using nested PCR methods for the B1 gene and detection of anti-Toxoplasma IgG.Results: 88 CSF samples from HIV patients tested using nested PCR showed 23 samples (26,1%) were positive. Serologic test for IgG Toxoplasma showed 34 samples were positive (28,6%). There was a significant correlation (p=0.000(<0.05) between PCR result and a serologic test for IgG Toxoplasma.Conclusion: Nested PCR methods to detect B1 gene increased the accuracy of diagnosis for toxoplasma encephalitis.

Introduction. Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH) is a Neglected Tropical Disease with almost 25% world population infected. Children were vulnerable to infection with morbidities affecting growth. STH infection alters children nutritional status which potentially causing anemia. Meta-analysis relating STH infections to hemoglobin (Hb) level and risk of anemia in children is limited. Aim. To compare hemoglobin levels and risk of anemia in children infected and uninfected with STH. Methods. Meta-analysis conducted from journals obtained from Pubmed, ScienceDirect, WileyLibrary, Cochrane, EBSCO, Proquest, DOAJ, and GoogleScholar from 2011-2021. Full text cross sectional studies on children with relevant topic is included, while unclear, inaccessible, or post interventional studies were excluded. Articles were analyzed in Review Manager 5.4 in mean difference (MD) and odds ratio (OR) with Confidence Interval (CI) of 95%. Result. Out of 25,683 articles in literature search, 29 were eligible for systematic review and meta-analysis. STH infection significantly decreases hemoglobin level (MD -0.2g/dL; p=0.02) and increases risk of anemia (OR 1.83; p<0.00001). Species analysis presented parallel result on Trichuris trichiura (MD -0.31g/dL; p=0.001 and OR 1.66; p=0.009), Hookworm (MD -0.56g/dL; p=0.02 and OR 3.3; p<0.00001), and multiple infection (MD -0.25g/dL; p=0.03 and OR 4.49; p=0.005). Ascaris lumbricoides didn’t show significance on hemoglobin level but comparable for risk of anemia (MD -0.16g/dL; p=0.17 and OR 1.57; p=0.001). Discussion. All STH infections exhibits lower hemoglobin level and higher risk of anemia caused by lower nutrition absorption and occult bleeding in gastrointestinal tract. Hookworm and multiple infections has the highest risk of anemia. Proportion of anemia may vary in studies and influenced by sociodemographic characteristics, but higher proportions occur in STH infected. Conclusion. Children infected with STH has lower hemoglobin level and in risk of anemia compared to uninfected children, hence further study is still needed to be conducted. Keywords: Anemia, Children, Hemoglobin, Infection, Soil Transmitted Helminths

Toksoplasmosis diperkirakan telah menginfeksi sepertiga populasi dunia dan dapat mengancam jiwa pasien dengan imunokompromi. Ensefalitis toksoplasma (ET) terjadi akibat reaktivasi infeksi laten T. gondii yang sering terjadi pada pasien AIDS, terutama stadium akhir. Untuk menegakkan diagnosis pasti pada pasien AIDS dengan kelainan SSP sangatlah sulit. Diagnosis ET ditegakkan hanya berdasarkan asumsi dari gejala klinis, gambaran radiologi, dan respon terhadap terapi yang diberikan. Pemeriksaan kadar IgG dari cairan organ masih jarang dilakukan. Sampel cairan otak diperoleh dari 50 pasien HIV dan AIDS yang dikumpulkan sejak Januari 2013 hingga 2014 di Laboratorium Parasitologi FKUI. Kadar CD4+, gejala klinis, hasil radiologi, diagnosis klinis, riwayat terapi profilaksis ko-trimoksazol, dan analisis cairan otak, diperoleh dari rekam medik.Dari 50 sampel, diperoleh hasil 24 (48%) positif dan 26 (52%) negatif IgG anti-Toxoplasma. Dari IgG positif, terdapat 5 (20,83%) dengan kadar tinggi, dan 19 (79,17%) dengan kadar IgG rendah. Tidak ada perbedaan bermakna antara kadar IgG antiToxoplasma dengan hasil radiologi, diagnosis klinis, maupun riwayat terapi profilaksis ko-trimoksazol. Diperoleh korelasi negatif antara kadar CD4+ dan IgG anti-Toxoplasma, walaupun kekuatannya sangat lemah. Berdasarkan hasil radiologi, diperoleh sensitivitas 56%, spesifisitas 57%, nilai duga positif 41%, dan nilai duga negatif 71%. Toxoplasmosis is estimated to infect a third of the world's population and can be life-threatening to human immunocompromised system . Toxoplasma Encephalitis (TE) is caused by reactivation of latent T. gondii infection that often occurs in AIDS patients especially those with end-stage . To establish a definite diagnosis in AIDS patients with Central Nervous System (CNS)disorders is very difficult. The diagnosis of TE is only based on the assumptions of clinical symptoms, radiological features, and responses to the therapy given. Examination of IgG levels from organ fluids is still rare. CSF samples were taken from 50 HIV/AIDS patients collected from January 2013 to 2014 at the Parasitology Laboratory at FKUI (Medical Departement of University of Indonesia). CD4 levels, clinical symptoms, radiological results, clinical diagnosis, history of co-trimoxazole prophylaxis, and SCF analysis were obtained from medical records. The results showed that IgG-anti Toxoplasma was positive in 24 patients (48%) and negative in 26 patients (52%). From the positive IgG, there were 5 patients(20.83%) with high IgG levels, and 19 patients(79.17%) with low IgG levels. There was no significant difference between the levels of IgG anti-toxoplasma and the results of radiology, clinical diagnosis, and a history of co-trimoxazole prophylactic therapy. There was a weak negative correlation between CD4 + and IgG anti-Toxoplasma levels, The results of radiology showed values of sensitivity 56%, specificity 57%, positive predictive value 41%, and negative predictive value 71%.

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Aim&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;To investigate the prevalence of Cryptosporidium sp. and B. hominis among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients in two different outpatient clinics, Haji Adam Malik General Hospital and Primary Care Centre of Padang Bulan, Medan, Indonesia, between two interval periods.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Method&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Cryptosporidium spp. microscopic examination, as well as Jones&amp;rsquo; medium for B. hominis, were conducted in the Parasitology Laboratory, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was done in the Multidisciplinary Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara. This was a cross-sectional study, involving 54 diarrheic HIV positive patients (44 males, 10 females). The data were analysed by Spearmen rank correlation, interrater agreement, and 2 tests.&lt;br /&gt;Results Infection rate for Cryptosporidium spp. and B. hominis was 24% (13 patients) and 9% (five patients), respectively. The prevalence of CD4 cell count below 200 cell/mm3 was relatively high, 29.6% (16 patients). There was a significant relationship between cryptosporidiosis and CD4 cell count (p=0.01; OR 1.57; 95% CI 1.25-1.99). Microscopic examination was superior over ELISA, whose diagnostic value for sensitivity and specificity was 46.15% and 100.0%, respectively, and Kappa (K) coefficient of 0.56.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;br /&gt;The prevalence of cryptosporidiosis among HIV patients was still relatively high. CD4 count showed a significant&lt;br /&gt;relationship with Cryptosporidium spp. infection, but not with Blastocystic hominis. Microscopic examination is still the most&lt;br /&gt;reliable technique to diagnose the parasites in faecal samples.&lt;/p&gt;