Resistance of blastocystis hominis cysts to chlorine.
1996; National Institutes of Health; Volume: 46; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês
Autores
Mehreen Zaki, Zaman, Sheikh Na,
Tópico(s)Parasitic Infections and Diagnostics
ResumoBlastocystis hominis is an intestinal protozoan parasite. Although the pathogenic potential of this organism remains controversial, there is increasing evidence to suggest its involvement with human disease. Infections due to blastocystis homims are quite common in the tropics and third world countries owing to the prevailing unsanitary conditions. Almost 50% of the random faecal samples from Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, grew the parasites in cultures. It is now well established that blastocystis hominis forms cysts1 which can easily be concentrated from faeces, Blastocystis has also recently been isolated from sewage11. Although the mode of transmission of this parasite is not yet clear, infection can occur by the ingestion of food and water contaminated with cysts coming from faeces or sewage. Chlorine is one of the most widely used chemicals for disinfection of drinking water. Concentrations of 0.5-1.0 ppm (0.5-1.0 mg/litre) are effective for killing most vegetative bacteria and inactivating most viruses. Instances where over chlorination of 8-10 ppm is done, WHO recommends that the water then be dechlorinated to render it fit for human consumption. We undertook the present experiment to study the invitro effects of chlorine on the viability of blastocystis hominis cysts, as this has not been previously done.
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