Diseases Due To Intestinale Protozoa Diagnosed At Le Dantec University Hospital In Dakar, Senegal, From 2011 To 2015

Objective: To identify the protozoa responsible for intestinal parasitosis diagnosed at Le Dantec University Hospital in Dakar, Senegal. Patients and methods: The retrospective study included 2578 patients for whom stool samples were analyzed from 2011 to 2015. The sex ratio was 1.1. Patients' mean age was 28.5 years, with a range of 11 days to 91 years. Direct examination and the Ritchie technique were performed to search for parasites. Results: In total, 317 patients had intestinal protozoa, for a prevalence of 12.3 %. Infections involved one (91%) or two parasites (9%). The most common species found alone were Entamoeba coli (51.5%), E. histolytica/E. dispar (17 %), and Giardia intestinalis (10.5%). The most common associations were E. coli with G. intestinalis (3.6 %) and with E. histolytica (2.4%). These infections affected significantly more outpatients than inpatients (65 %, p = 0.0049) and slightly more women (51.1%, p = 0.22) than men. Adults accounted for 67% of the confirmed intestinal protozoa: 39% aged 31-60 years, 28% aged 15-30, and only 7% older than 60 (P = 0.5). Conclusion: Most of the protozoa isolated were non-pathogenic. However, health education should be promoted in addition to the mass treatment program already begun to limit and even halt the spread of these neglected diseases.