PREVALENCE OF INTESTINAL PARASITOSIS AND IMMUNOLOGICAL STATUS OF HIV/AIDS PATIENTS ON ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY IN NYANYA GENERAL HOSPITAL ABUJA, NIGERIA

Abstract

Intestinal parasites, especially in HIV/AIDS patients, are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitosis and the immune status of HIV/AIDS patients on ART. Two hundred (200) HIV/AIDS patients were recruited from the ART clinic at Nyanya General Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria, for this cross-sectional institution-based research. To collect detailed demographic data, questionnaires were sent out. The direct wet mount, formol-ether concentration, and adjusted Ziehl-Neelsen staining were used to analyze stool samples. Patients' records were analyzed during this study period to assess their CD4⁺ T-cell count and viral load status. The findings were compared using a contingency table analysis and the chi-square test. The Mann-Whitney test was used to compare quantitative data sets. P value of 0.05 was described as statistically significant (P≤0.05).The findings of our study were 80 (40 percent) of the patients had intestinal parasitosis, with 11 (13.8 percent) of them having multiple parasitosis. Cryptosporidium parvum had the highest prevalence (16%), Entamoeba histolytica /dispar (13%), Giardia lamblia (7%), and Entamoeba coli (3.5%). Strongyloides stercoralis, Ascaris lumbricoides, and Cystoisospora belli each had a prevalence of 2.5 percent. The findings revealed that diarrhoea was linked to cryptosporidiosis, giardiasis, and cystoisosporiasis. In this study, there was no correlation between intestinal parasitosis and immune system function. In HIV/AIDS patients, prolonged and untreated diarrhoea can be crippling and fatal.