Özet:

Objective: Intestinal parasitic infections are among the prominent public health concerns in patients with suppressed immune function. Material and methods: Here we examined stool specimens by microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to evaluate the infection of five principal protozoans (Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp., Entamoeba histolytica, Blastocystis spp. and Dientamoeba spp.) among 90 renal transplant recipient patients (RTP) in comparison with 90 healthy individuals (HI) from Turkey. Results: The overall frequency of any parasites was 17.2% (31/180) with microscopy and 51.7% (93/180) with PCR. Because of its high sensitivity, PCR was compared with microscopy in terms of the accuracy of detecting intestinal parasites, and the agreement was found to be inadequate (κ= 0.217; p<0.001). Multiparasitism (90.9%), Cryptosporidium spp. (84.6%) and Giardia spp. (74.1%) were the most frequent agents in RTP, respectively (p<0.001). Conclusions: This is the first study performed in Turkish reporting the prevalence of five intestinal parasites with PCR techniques among this group and seeks to provide a basis for future studies  

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