Evaluation of strongyloidiasis prevalence in immunocompromised patients referred to hospitals: a case study of Iran's capital.

BACKGROUND

Strongyloidiasis is a parasitic disease commonly caused by S. stercoralis. It can lead to serious consequences in immunocompromised patients. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of S. stercoralis infection in immunocompromised patients referred to selected hospitals.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: This was a cross-sectional study in which demographic information, including age, sex, occupation, place of residence, and type of underlying disease, was collected from patients with cancer or who were treated with high doses of corticosteroids for rheumatic diseases. Serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against S. stercoralis were measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). For patients with positive antibody tests, stool culture was performed, and the data were analyzed with SPSS software ver. 25.

RESULTS

There were included 93 patients in this study, in 11.8% there was administered high doses of corticosteroids due to rheumatic disease and 88.2% had cancer. S. stercoralis-IgG ELISA was positive in 30 patients (32.3%). There was a significant association between the type of disease and a positive IgG antibody test (P ≤ 0.015). Among seropositive patients, only one patient (3.3%) was positive in the stool culture. There was a significant association between the IgG antibody test score and occupation (P ≤ 0.002). Positive IgG antibodies were most common among employees (75%).

CONCLUSION

Although positive S. stercoralis-IgG antibody tests are common among immunocompromised patients, stool culture results are negative for most seropositive patients, indicating previous infections.