Giardia infections in Cuban children: the genotypes circulating in a rural population
Authors: Pelayo, L.1; Nuñez, F.A.1; Rojas, L.1; Furuseth Hansen, E.2; Gjerde, B.2; Wilke, H.3; Mulder, B.3; Robertson, L.2
Source: Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Volume 102, Number 7, October 2008 , pp. 585-595(11)
Publisher: Maney Publishing
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Abstract:
Stool samples containing Giardia duodenalis cysts were collected from 95 primary-school children in central Cuba, and preserved by storing at −20°C in 70% ethanol. Clinical data were collected for each child. Although 57% of the children were asymptomatic, the remaining 43% each reported between one and three symptoms. Following cyst quantification and isolation, molecular analyses were attempted on all cyst isolates, with the focus on the parasite's β-giardin and glutamate-dehydrogenase (gdh) genes. Unfortunately, the cyst-preservation procedure appeared to have a deleterious effect on the cysts, since genotyping data could only be obtained for 20 of the 95 isolates. These data indicated, however, an approximately equal distribution between assemblage A (nine isolates) and assemblage B (11 isolates). Children found to be excreting relatively large numbers of cysts were more likely to be symptomatic than children who were excreting fewer cysts, and children with Giardia isolates from assemblage B were more likely to have symptomatic infections than children with isolates from assemblage A. Although considerable sequence variability was seen in the assemblage-B isolates, the assemblage-A isolates were relatively genetically homogeneous. This is the first publication from the Caribbean in which the Giardia genotypes circulating within the population have been identified, the first from the Americas providing information on associations between clinical presentation and the assemblage of the infecting Giardia, and the first to indicate that levels of cyst excretion may have clinical significance.Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1179/136485908X355247
Affiliations: 1: Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Medicina Tropical 'Pedro Kourí', Apartado Postal 601, Marianao 13, Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba 2: Parasitology Laboratory, Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, P.O. Box 8146 Dep, 0033 Oslo, Norway 3: Laboratory of Medical Microbiology Twente Achterhoek, Postbus 377, 7500 AJ Enschede, The Netherlands
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