Diarrhea associated to parasites at Peltier Hospital in Djibouti (Period from 2019 to 2021)

Abstract

Diarrhea may be present alone or be associated with other symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or weight loss. Diarrhea diseases represent a true public health that needs to be considered. On the other hand, Diarrhea was a very prevalent symptom of COVID-19 and other infections. This study objects to find different parasitic diarrhea. A total of 850 patients were surveyed, of whom 380 were men and 470 were women (sex ratio 0.80), with an average age of 33.5 years [15-80 years]. Acute diarrhea was reported in 55 % of patients, choleriform in 24 % of patients, and dysenteric in 21 % of patients. Among 850 stool samples, 181 were negative (21 %). A review of the stool revealed altered leukocytes in 374 samples (44 %). The most common parasites reported were Entamoeba histolytica, Trichomonas intestinalis and Giardia intestinalis representing 85 % of cases. Diseases most commonly associated with diarrhea include malaria (27 %), Covid-19 (15 %), acute lung disease (13 %) and genitourinary infections (9 %). Parasitic diarrhea dominated by helminthiasis remains a concern.