STUDIES ON SOME OPPORTUNISTIC PARASITES IN ASSIUT

Abstract

Oppmtunistic parasites are organisms previously thought to be of little medical importance, have been reCO!,'llized as severe' pathogens, especially under certin clinical conditions suppressing the immune status of the individuals.

This study was the first which was done on the cancer patients who were admitted in South Egypt Cancer Institute. It is also the first work in which Jsopora belli was revealed from inununocompromized patients in Assiut. This work aimed to find out the different opportunistic parasites in cancer patients by using different stains for their identification and applying serological test to diagnose Toxoplasma infection in these patients. •

The present work was perfonned on one hundred patients with malignant tumours, compromizing 65 males and 35 females from all ages above 5 years, 73 of them were under immunosuppressive therapy, 29 suffering from dimThea. Out of the examined patients 29 had cancer. bladder, 25 with lymphoma, 21 with cancer breast, 10 with brain tumours, 5 with cancer liver, 5 with cancer colon and 5 with leucaemia. Acontrol group of fifty persons were chosen from outclinics and blood donners bank.

From these patients, stool, sputum, urine and blood samples were collected m1d exmnined.

Stool smears stained with differeJlt stains as modified Ziehl-Neelsen, safranin, Giemsa and Gram stain. By stool examination ce1tin parasities were detected as: Cryptosporidium with a percentage of (29%) of all cases, Giardia Iamblia (17%), E.histolytica (12%) Microsporidia (7%) , Cyclospora (3%) and Isospora (1 %) .