Spectrum of Intestinal Parasitic Infection in HIV Infected Pregnant Women

Introduction parasites play an important role as opportunistic infections and are one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in HIV/AIDS patients. HIV infected pregnant women are more prone to develop parasitic infection because of their hormonal changes during pregnancy along with reduced immunity in HIV. Almost every parasite either directly or indirectly causes anemia and malnutrition, both are associated with an increased incidence of adverse pregnancy outcome. We therefore, planned to study the spectrum of intestinal parasitic infections in HIV positive pregnant women as the knowledge about the pattern of pathogen can often guide appropriate therapy. Methods and Materials In this hospital based study of one year duration from July 2014 to June 2015, 51 Pregnant women attending Antenatal Clinic in Gauhati Medical College& Hospital, Guwahati and its Annexe Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital testing HIV positive in the PPTCT, were taken up for the study. An equal number of 51 HIV negative pregnant women were taken up as controls. Stool samples were collected from both study and control group for microscopic and macroscopic examination. ResultsThe prevalence of intestinal parasites in study group is 19.6 % and control group is 15.6 %. Hookworm found to be the most common parasite in both groups ( 30 % in study group and 37.5 % in control group) followed by Ascaris lumbricoides ( 20 % in study group and 25 % in control group). Cryptosporidium parvum was found exclusively among the HIV positive group ( 20 % in study group and 0.0 % in control group). Conclusion Prompt diagnosis of parasitic infection especially intestinal parasitic infection, among HIV infected persons is advocated in oder to improve the management and quality of life of HIV infected individual. Routine examination of stool samples for parasites could significantly benifit HIV infected and uninfected by contributing to reduce morbidity and adverse pregnancy outcome in antenatal women.