BackgroundOver the last few years, epidemiological studies have shown that infection with Helicobacter pylori has a major effect on micronutrient deficiency as well as on adverse pregnancy outcomes. Importantly, there are gaps in understanding the linkage of H. pylori infection with micronutrients deficiency in pregnant women.ObjectiveWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the association between H. pylori infection and micronutrient deficiencies in pregnant women.MethodsA systematic literature search was conducted for relevant articles using PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus database from inception to March 2020. The OR with 95% CIs was determined by meta-analysis of data extracted from the selected studies.ResultsFrom 2384 primary articles, 6 studies were selected for systematic reviews and 4 studies distinctively (with 1274 participants: 553 cases and 721 controls) were selected for meta-analysis. The meta-analysed fixed effect model estimated the odds of having H. pylori infection was not significantly higher among pregnant women with micronutrient deficiencies than those without deficiencies (OR=1.12, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.42, p=0.37). In the subgroup analysis, no correlation was found between H. pylori infection and vitamin B12 (OR=0.74, 95% CI 0.45 to 1.21, p=0.22), folate (OR=1.07, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.58, p=0.73), and ferritin (OR=0.81, 95% CI 0.51 to 1.31, p=0.4). However, a positive correlation was found between iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) and H. pylori infection (OR=16.23, 95% CI 4.19 to 62.93, p<0.0001) during pregnancy.ConclusionH. pylori infection is associated with increased risk of IDA but not with deficiency of other micronutrients in pregnancy.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42019135683.

A total of 200 stool samples were examined and five species of intestinal parasites were identified. Two of them were protozoans (Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia intestinalis) and the rest of which three species were nematode parasites (Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Strongyloids stercoralis). The overall prevalence of parasitic infection was 50%. Individually the prevalence of Ascaris lumbricoides, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia intestinalis, Trichuris trichiura and Strongyloids stercoralis was 25%, 13%, 6%, 3.5% and 2.5%, respectively. Patients of different age and sex had a variable degree of infection. Children aged under ten years showed the highest prevalence (73.97%) compared to other groups. Accordingly, male patients were found slightly more susceptible to the infection (50.38%) compared to the female (49.29%). People belonging to different occupation and educational qualification had various degree of infection. As expected patients who had no education and poor monthly income, showed the highest prevalence of infection, 77.77% and 90%, respectively. Personal hygiene practices of the patients had much influence on the parasitic prevalence and rate of infection. Respectively 58.82%, 91.42%, 80% and 63.55% prevalence were found among the patients who used to drink unsafe water, wash hands without soap, stay barefooted most of the time and do not trim their nails regularly. The present study supposed to reveal that socioeconomic conditions and behavioral factors may influence the prevalence of parasitic infections. Bangladesh J. Zool. 47(1): 129-136, 2019

Three species of myxozoa (Henneguya chaudhuryi, Henneguya bengalensis and Myxobolus sp.) and 3 species of ciliophora (Trichodina pediculus, Epistylis lwoffi and Apisoma piscicolum) and two actinosporean stages of myxoza were identified. Some 51.72% of total host fishes which were found infected with at least one of the above mentioned parasites with average load of 95.93±41.53 per infected host. High percentage (98.05) of C. punctatus possessed myxozoan infection and 1.95 had chiliophoran infection. The highest prevalence of parasitic infection was observed in host sample collected from Faridpur district and lowest (33.33%) in fish sample collected from Mymensingh. The association of parasitic infection of H. bengalensis and Myxobolus sp. with study areas was found statistically significant (p=0.024 and 0.049, respectively). Protozoan parasites were most abundant in gills of hosts. Shannon Diversity Index indicated that host fishes were not infested by more parasites and the parasite community was poorly diverged in all study sites. However, Simpson’s Diversity showed that, parasites community was moderately diverged in host fishes collected from Mymensingh district and in rest of the areas parasite community was poorly diverged. Asiat. Soc. Bangladesh, Sci. 46(1): 13-25, June 2020

The study was conducted to identify the protozoan parasites and to determine their occurrence and diversity in climbing perch, Anabas testudineus (Bloch, 1972). The sample fish species were collected from mid-October, 2018 to end of the December 2018 from freshwater bodies of Mymensingh, Kishoregonj, Faridpur and Jashore districts. Three species of myxozoa (Henneguya mystusia, Henneguya qadrii and Henneguya acerinae) and 4species of ciliophora (Trichodina acuta, Trichodina spp., Epistylis lwoffi and Amphileptus disciformis) were identified in A. testudineus. Approximately 76.19% of total fish species were infected by at least one of the parasites with average load of 71.38±32.26 per infected host. Myxozoans (97.55%) were clearly dominant group than chiliophorans (2.45%). The highest prevalence of parasitic infection was observed in the fishes of Mymensingh (100%) and lowest in Jashore (40%).The association of parasitic infection of H. mystusia (p=0.018), H. qadrii (p= 0.00044), H. acerinae (p=0.003), Trichodina acuta (p= 0.052)and A. disciformis (p= 0.023) with study area was statistically significant. Protozoan parasites were most abundant in gills of the hosts. Shannon Diversity Index indicated that hosts were not infested by more parasites and the parasite community was poorly diverged in all study sites but Simpson’s Diversity Index showed that, parasites community was moderately diverged in host fish of Mymensingh area and in rest of areas they were poorly diverged. Bangladesh J. Zool. 48(1): 127-140, 2020

The current work has been proposed to accumulate baseline information regarding prevalence, diversity and distribution of the protozoan parasites found in the freshwater fishes of Bangladesh from its inception to 2019. This is an attempt to compile a baseline data on protozoan parasites of freshwater fishes in Bangladesh. A total of thirty four articles were reviewed whereas sixteen articles reported systematic, taxonomic and morphometric analysis of protozoan parasites, five articles described seasonal parasitic infestation in carp fishes including protozoan parasites, seven articles reported overall parasitic infestation along with protozoan infection, three articles described protozoan infection in consort with the histo-pathological analysis, one article revealed the occurrence of one protozoan parasite named Trypanosoma sp. and one study described monthly fluctuation of overall parasitic infection together with protozoan infestation. A number of thirty four freshwater fish species under nine orders in Bangladesh were retrieved on the mentioned articles and found 48 species of protozoan parasites under 19 genera. Noticeably, parasites under genus Trichodina was frequently found in the freshwater fish species. Most of the parasites were found from the gills (micro-habited) of the host fish. To sum up, from this compilation a primary database of protozoan parasites of freshwater fish species might be expected to establish that will be supportive for further extensive study. Bangladesh J. Zool. 48(1): 21-35, 2020