Abstract:
with
chronic diarrhoea among adult AIDS patients was conducted
in the North-eastern zone of Tanzania. Diarrhoea was found
to be a major problem among the patients. More than 70% of
the patients had diarrhoea during their illness.
Intestinal parasites were detected in 123 out of 352
(34.9%)
patients.
The proportion of patients with
intestinal parasites and chronic diarrhoea was 62.6% (77
out of 123) . The prevalence of chronic diarrhoea in
patients who were in clinical stage Ill-IV of AIDS was
highest among patients harbouring parasites that are known
to cause diarrhoea. The association of di'arrhoeagenic
parasites (combined together) with chron~ diarrhoea was
found to be statistically significant. The adjusted
associations
were
also
found
statistically
significant. Cryptosporidium ~,
Isospora belli and
Strongyloides stercoralis were only isolated from patients
with chronic diarrhoea .
It was concluded that chronic diarrhoea was a major
complaint of adult AIDS patients in North-eastern Tanzania.
Parasi tes known to cause diarrhoea considered together were
the most likely cause of chronic diarrhoea in such
••
patients.
Cryptosporidium
~,Isospora
belli,
and
iii
Strongyloides stercoralis were the most likely cause of
chronic diarrhoea among the patients. Development of
clinical infection due to parasites known to cause
diarrhoea was found to be related to the immunological
status (clinical stage) of the AIDS patients.
It is recommended to strengthen home based care for AIDS
patients as well as laboratory facilities at all levels of
health care delivery centres for diagnosing specific
intestinal parasites in AIDS patients so as to institute
specific therapies thereby improving the quality of life of
such patients.
A comprehensive case-control study, to establish cause and
effect of the various agents isolated from AIDS patients
with chronic diarrhoea is proposed. There is a need to
determine the type of drugs which will be suitable for the
treatment of opportunistic infections which may interact
with AIDS in our set up.
