Abstract

The present study was conducted on 697 diabetic and 603 non-diabetic peoples (aged 25-75 years) in the Immunology Laboratory, Institute of Health Science (BIHS) Hospital, Mirpur, in Dhaka to investigate their association with protozoan infestation. The use of appropriate technique plays an important role in the detection of the parasitic infections. ELISA with blood samples, formol-ether concentration technique (F-ECT) and zinc sulphate method (Z-SFM) were applied to faecal samples for the detection of prevalence of Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia. Out of 697 diabetic patients, by ELISA 15.93% and 17.65% were found infected by E. histolytica and G. lamblia; while out of 603 non-diabetic individuals 27.53% and 28.03% were infected by E. histolytica and G. lamblia; respectively. According to the results of F-ECT on diabetic patients, 26.83% and 28.41%, on non-diabetic individuals 34.66% and 34.99% were found infected by E. histolytica and G. lamblia; respectively. The results of Z-SFM, on diabetic patients 12.05% and 13.34%, on nondiabetic individuals 15.09% and 16.09% were found infected by E. histolytica and G. lamblia respectively. A specimen was considered positive for E. histolytica and G. lamblia if either cysts or trophozoites or both were present. Double parasitic infestation (8.03%) was found in diabetic patients and 13.10% was found in non-diabetic individuals. By these methods (ELISA, F-ECT and Z-SFM techniques), it reveals that, males were more infected than females. It was also observed that the young (25-45 years) were more infected than old aged group (above 55).

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