SOME INTESTINAL PARASITES AND PSYCHIATRIC DISEASES: IS THERE A POSSIBLE LINK?

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Departments of Medical Parasitology,Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, 61519, Egypt

2 Departments of Medical Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, 61519, Egypt

3 Departments of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, 61519, Egypt

Abstract

The study assessed the risk of intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) among psychiatric patients in
comparison with controls. A case-control study was conducted on 983 psychiatric patients and
another 983 non-psychiatric controls attending the Psychiatry and Neurology outpatient clinic of
Minia University Hospital, Egypt, during the period from October 2017 to September 2019. A
single fecal sample was collected from each participant and examined by direct saline wet
mount, formol-ether concentration. Modified trichrome and Kinyoun acid-fast staining were
used to confirm suspected cases of protozoa. Our results showed that the rate of IPIs was
significantly higher in psychiatric patients (35%) than in control (10.8%). Multiple IPIs were
found in nine (0.9%) psychiatric patients, but not in controls. Blastocystis hominis was the most
prevalent infection followed by Cryptosporidium parvum. Patients suffering from depression had
the highest prevalence of infection (32.6%).

Keywords

Journal of the Egyptian Society of Parasitology
Volume 51, Issue 2
August 2021
Pages 227-232

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