Pediatr. praxi. 2023;24(6):385-388 | DOI: 10.36290/ped.2023.093

Enterobius vermicularis - vector of the difficult-to-diagnose intestinal trichomonad Dientamoeba fragilis?

Mgr. Hana Bílková Fránková, MBA

Oddělení klinické mikrobiologie, Laboratoře AGEL, a. s., Ostrava

Enterobius vermicularis (E. vermicularis) is currently the most common helminth of the human intestine. The statistics of the National Reference Laboratory for Intestinal Parasitoses show that it is almost the only representative of the helminth group in our conditions (1) (Table 1). Occurs or diagnoses this disease (enterobiosis, oxyuriasis) especially in children. Due to the rapid maturation of larvae in the egg (4-6 h), their overproduction (an adult female lays 5 000-12 000 eggs (2) (Fig. 1a, b, Fig. 2a, b) and the high resistance of eggs to external influences, I assume the current occurrence in most family members, including adults. Due to the relatively high prevalence of the pathogenic trichomonad Dientamoeba fragilis (D. fragilis) in stool samples of paediatric patients, I am inclined to the hypothesis, expressed already in 1940 by Dobell (3), that the roup may be the vector of their transmission and which is supported by e.g. Stark et al. (4) This is also suggested by the results of the study Prevalence and clinical significance of parasitic infections in the population of 0-15-year-old children in Ostrava region, which was carried out by our department together with the Children's Department of Vítkovice Hospital.Here, D. fragilis was present in 26,5 % of respondents, in 11% together with E. vermicularis (5). With the introduction of molecular biological diagnostic methods (RT PCR) into the routine practice of some laboratories in the Czech Republic, the number of their findings has increased significantly. Thus, D. fragilis has currently been leading in the NRL statistics for several years (11), (Table 2, 3). The mode of transmission is of interest to parasitologists (4, 5, 6, 7, 8). Stark et al. report the existence of precystic and cystic stages (9), but this remains a matter of professional debate.

Keywords: parazit, Dientamoeba fragilis, Enterobius vermicularis.

Accepted: November 14, 2023; Published: November 22, 2023  Show citation