Abstract
Parasitic infections represent a major public health problem in immunocompromised
individuals especially in HIV patients.
Objective: To throw light on the parasites associated with HIV infection in the local
community.
Methods: The present study evaluated patients 10 HIV positive male patients who were
admitted at Assiut Tropical Medicine and Assiut University Hospitals, Egypt, between January
2015 and 2016. All of them were diagnosed by the Egyptian ministry of health and received
the antiviral treatment. 8 patients were complaining of diarrhea, one patient was Sudanese
with two resistant skin ulcers not responding to medical treatment so he came to Assiut
tropical hospitals to be diagnosed and treated, one patient, with history of travelling to
Uganda, was complaining of irregular fever and jaundice, the last patients was complaining
of persistent cough not responding to known antimicrobial medications. So two samples of
stool were collected from each patients, together with sputum and a whole blood sample.
Skin scrap and biopsy were taken from any existing skin lesions.
Results: 9 out of 10 HIV positive patients had parasitic infections, 5 patients had single
parasitic infection while 4 patients had mixed infections with more than one parasite.
Parasitic infections were in the form of Cryptosporidiumspp (6 patients), Giardia lamblia
(4 patients), Leishmania tropica(one patient), Plasmodium falciparum(one patient) and
Pneumocystis carinii(one patient).
Conclusions: This is a study of parasitic infections in HIV positive patients were admitted
at Assiut Tropical Medicine and Assiut University Hospitals, Egypt. HIV infection has
modified the records of parasitic infection as well as outcome of diseases caused by
parasites, probably through immune modifications.