South Asian Journal of Parasitology

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood glucose, either because the body does not produce enough insulin or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. Defects in immune system are associated with different parasitic infection. Intestinal parasitic infection (IPI) is still a major health problem in different regions of the world, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. The aim of this study is to determine intestinal parasitic infections among diabetes mellitus patients attending Murtala Muhammad specialist hospital (MMSH), Kano.

Materials and Methods: The study is a comparative case control study and was carried out at Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital. A total of 184 participants were recruited. 138 diabetic patients and 46 non-diabetic individuals (control group) with data on socio-demographic characteristics collected from both groups. The participants were instructed on how to collect the sample. The samples were processed macroscopically and microscopically by direct wet preparation and formalin-ether concentration technique. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistical model in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 23).

Results: Infection with S. stercoralis (29.7%), hookworm (13.0%), E. histolytica (5.1%) and mixed infection with “hookworm and S. stercoralis“ and “E. histolytica and hookworm” were found to be in 2 (1.5%) each were found in the case group, this is summed up to a total of 50.8%, while in the control group, E. histolytica (6.5%) and G. lamblia (2.2%) were found giving a total of 8.7%. Out of the 50.8% in the case group, 51.4% and 48.6% were male and female respectively. In this study, it was concluded that DM patients are at high risk of infection with intestinal parasites than normal population p=0.512 (50.8 and 8.7).

Conclusion: This investigation reveals that male participants were found to be more infected with intestinal parasites than females which could be as a result of Life style. Vegetable wash, life modification, walking barefooted source of water, and animal rearing did not significantly affect the prevalence of IPIs in DM patients p=0.512. It was concluded that DM patients are at higher risk of infection with intestinal parasites than normal population.