Blastocystis in Côte d’Ivoire: molecular identification and epidemiological data

• Published in: European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases Vol. 36; no. 11; pp. 2243 - 2250
• Main Authors: D’Alfonso, R., Santoro, M., Essi, D., Monsia, A., Kaboré, Y., Glé, C., Di Cave, D., Sorge, R. P., Di Cristanziano, V., Berrilli, F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-11-2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Blastocystis - classification; Blastocystis - genetics; Blastocystis Infections - epidemiology; Blastocystis Infections - parasitology; Blastocystis Infections - transmission; Chickens; Chickens - parasitology; Child; Child, Preschool; Cote d'Ivoire - epidemiology; Developing countries; Dogs; Domestic animals; Ducks - parasitology; Epidemiology; Feces - parasitology; Female; Gastrointestinal Diseases - diagnosis; Gastrointestinal Diseases - parasitology; Humans; Internal Medicine; Intestine; LDCs; Male; Medical Microbiology; Molecular Epidemiology; Molecular Typing; Original Article; Pathogens; Patients; Phylogeny; Protozoa; Seasonal variations; Young Adult; Zoonoses; Blastocystis Infection; Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel (GPP); Potential Zoonotic Transmission; Bonne Ou; Subtype Distribution
• ISSN: 0934-9723; 1435-4373
• DOI: 10.1007/s10096-017-3053-1

Blastocystis
is an enteric protozoan infecting humans and animals in both developed and developing countries at all latitudes. Despite this, data on
Blastocystis
infection are not available for several geographical areas, including many African countries. In this study, a survey was conducted on
Blastocystis
among humans and domestic animals in rural and urban localities in Côte d’Ivoire, in order to investigate the prevalence, the subtype distribution, and the zoonotic potential in association with sociodemographic factors, seasonality, symptoms, and co-infections. A total of 110 fecal samples were collected from patients living in four localities. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses were conducted for
Blastocystis
detection and subtyping. Positive samples from symptomatic patients were tested by Luminex xTAG® Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel (GPP) to evidence the presence of other common intestinal pathogens. Overall, a prevalence of 58.2% was observed in humans and subtypes ST1(50.0%), ST2 (22.0%) and ST3 (28.1%) were identified. The prevalence values varied significantly among the sites but not in relation to the subtype. The seasonal rains significantly increase the infection rate in all localities. No significant differences in the ST distribution between asymptomatic and symptomatic subjects were observed. As regard the zoonotic transmission, an additional sampling was conducted in another village where fecal samples were simultaneously collected from humans and animals.
Blastocystis
STs 1–3 and ST7 were identified in eight humans and four chickens, respectively. This study provides the first exhaustive data on the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of
Blastocystis
in Côte d’Ivoire.