info re- blasocystic hominis

[Graham Clark]

mark rosal <rosal at mail.netshop.net> writes:

>Hello to everyone, I have rather peristent case of blasocystis hominis,
>and the regular medicines- such a flagy don't seem to be able to get rid
>of it. Can any body help me on this one. I am willing to look at any
>thing if it can specifically knock this bug out. Any and all
>information, suggestions, contacts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
>--- mark rosal

Blastocystis infection is probably the most common parasitic =

infection in the world. Some surveys indicate infection rates of 10%
in Europe and North America and up to 50% in developing countries.
Relatively little is known about Blastocystis hominis compared to =

most parasites and not everyone agrees on all points. Approximately =

equal numbers of doctors think that it causes disease as those who =

do not believe it does. The reason for this is quite simply that =

most people infected show no symptoms at all that can be linked to =

the presence of the parasite. In any event, the most it is thought =

to cause is diarrhea, although from time to time other symptoms are =

also attributed to Blastocystis infection. It is never fatal. Flagyl
is the drug used to treat this and other intestinal parasites and =

some bacterial infections too. =


My own tendency would be to undergo treatment only if I had symptoms =

and no other possible cause could be found. Flagyl is a relatively =

safe drug but can have mild side effects in some cases. Tinidazole, =

ornidazole, furazolidone, co-trimoxazole, ketoconazole, =

trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (among others) have also been used to treat =

Blastocystis but very few studies have been published and as with all =

drugs it does not work in every case. None of them are specific for
Blastocystis so their 'successes' may be due to indirect effects or =

spontaneous loss of the infection.

Finding additional information on Blastocystis depends on what sort
of library you have access to. A recent review of what is known about
this organism is by Stenzel and Boreham in Clinical Microbiology Reviews =

volume 9 pages 563-584 published in 1996.  This journal should be
found in most medical school libraries and in many larger university
libraries.

I hope this has helped.

Graham Clark
____________________
C. Graham Clark, Ph.D.
Department of Medical Parasitology,
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,
Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, England, G.B.
e-mail: g.clark at lshtm.ac.uk
=00