Prevalance of Intestinal Parasites Especially Cryptosporidium in HIV Seropositive Patients&its Corelation with CD4+ Count&HAART Therapy in Tertiary Care Hospital

Enteric Parasites are related to gastrointestinal disturbances especially diarrhoea among HIV seropositive patients. The manifestations were more severe before institution of HAART therapy. Present study was done to investigate the relationship between intestinal parasitic infections& CD4+ T cell count& diarrhoea in HIV seropositive patients on HAART therapy. Retrospective study was done on 1067 stool samples collected from HIV seropositive patients from April 2014 to august 2018. Stool samples were collected& processed using direct wet mount, formal ether concentration& modified Ziehl Neelsen staining technique. Blood samples were collected& analysed for CD4+ Tcell counts by flow cytometry. Results-The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 23.4 % (250 of 1067), highest being of Cryptosporidial oocysts 21.1 % followed by Giardia 1.1 %, Entamoeba spp 0.75 %& Hook worm eggs were detevted in 0.47 % of cases. There was decrease in parasitic detection over the period. The maximum parasitic isolation was in the patients whose CD4 cell counts were below 200 cells/l. This study showed the significant prevalence of intestinal parasites in HIV seropositive patients. Although the study is limited in scope, however, it does reflect the importance of evaluating the prevalence of intestinal parasites in HIVpositive/ AIDS patients especially at the local level& provide vital information for health professionals who are managing these patients. This could lead to improvement in patients management and care.