Frequency and etiology of enteroparasitosis in patients with human immunodeficiency virus at a hospital of Lambayeque, Peru

© 2019 Universidad de Ciencias Medicas de La Hab. All rights reserved. Introduction: Despite antiretroviral therapy, it is still common to find the presence of opportunistic infections such as enteroparasites, which cause a big impact on the health and economy of patients. Objetive: To determine the frequency, etiology and factors associated with enteroparasitosis in patients with HIV at a reference hospital in Lambayeque, Peru. Material and Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in diarrheic patients with HIV infection in a hospital in Lambayeque from January to June, 2016. The study was a census. Both the collection and transport as well as the analysis of the samples followed the recommendations of the Manual of procedures for the diagnosis of human parasitosis of the National Institute of Health. Results: The meadian age was 28 years, the male sex predominated, and the percentage of parasitism was 73.08%. Patients with viral load >1000 were 69.2% and patients with HAART were 55.8%. Blastocystis hominis was the most frequent parasite (30.77%), followed by Cryptosporidium spp. and Cystoisospora belli with 21.2% and 11.5%, respectively. The bivariate analysis between viral load and HAART with parasitism, demonstrated an association with parasitism. Conclusions: Enteroparasitosis is frequent in patients with HIV and diarrhea, predominating opportunistic infections over non opportunistic ones.