Giardia lamblia infection and associated risk factors among patients attending Kochore Health Center, Ethiopia.

OBJECTIVE: To measure the prevalence of Giardia lamblia infection and the associated risk factors among patients attending Kochore town health center, Ethiopia. METHODS: Stool samples were collected and assessed by direct microscopy, and antigen detection was performed using the ELISA technique. Data were analyzed using the Chi-Square test and a P-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Ninety-eight out of 422 (23.22%) stool samples were positive by microscopy. Using the ELISA technique in stool samples, 160 of 422 (37.91%) samples were positive. Risk factors such as health center level, occupation, monthly income, educational status, toilet availability at home, water source, drinking water treatment, container type, waste disposal system, and eating unwashed fruits and vegetables were significantly associated with G. lamblia infection. CONCLUSION: Implementation of health education campaigns and emphasis on the importance of environmental sanitation and personal hygiene will help reduce the health burden.

Leishmania aethiopica: infections in laboratory animals.

Leishmania aethiopica parasites were inoculated into 11 different strains and species of small laboratory animals. Clinical lesions were only produced following inoculation of hamster noses and thus this parasite is highly selective in both species and site for the laboratory animals tested. Parasites could, however, be recovered from draining lymph nodes 3 weeks after infection of BALB/c mice. Lesions in hamsters were progressive and nonulcerating (up to 1 year) and histologically resembled diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis (DTH) in man. Pronounced delayed hypersensitivity responses to L. aethiopica antigens only developed in mice despite the absence of clinical lesions. Weak DTH responses were produced in hamsters with clinical lesions only after 25 weeks of infection.