Results of routine examinations for parasitic infections of humans from laboratory-submitted samples in Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga Provinces between 2009 and 2010

Abstract

Very few recent studies have been done in South Africa on the occurrence or prevalence of parasites in humans. Based on the results of routine examinations for parasitic infections conducted in the Microbiology Laboratory of Ampath in Pretoria, this study focuses on the spectrum of parasites diagnosed in samples from humans in Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga provinces between 2009 and 2010. Database searches for results of samples in which parasites were positively identified were conducted using the laboratory’s internal software system. Data of the positive results were exported and sorted according to date, specimen type, parasite identified, patient age, gender and geographic locality. Results showed that a total of 24 different species of parasites were identified in the laboratory over the two-year period. The overall numbers of parasites identified, according to the data searches, were 863 and 1061 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The following parasites were identified: Entamoeba coli, Entamoeba histolytica, Endolimax nana, Acanthamoeba sp, Giardia intestinalis, Trichomonas hominis, Trichomonas vaginalis, Chilomastix mesnili, Blastocystis hominis, Cryptosporidium spp, Cystoisospora belli, Sarcocystis sp, Enterobius vermicularis, Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, ancylostomatids (hookworm), Taenia saginata, Taenia solium, Dipylidium caninum, Inermicapsifer madagascariensis, Bertiella studeri, Schistosoma haematobium, Echinococcus granulosus and Cordylobia anthropophaga. In both years, the majority of cases originated from Gauteng Province followed by North West and Mpumalanga provinces. The data were summarized descriptively and compared with available published records.