ArticleBMC infectious diseases2014
Children of Senegal River Basin show the highest prevalence of Blastocystis sp. ever observed worldwide.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 145 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
145 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 265 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of Blastocystis sp. and Dientamoeba fragilis in irritable bowel syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Parasitology research · 2017Pooled it
- Effects of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei supplementation on the single-cell fecal parasitome in children with celiac disease autoimmunity: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial.Parasites & vectors · 2023Trial
- Detection and subtype distribution of Blastocystis sp. in aquatic biofilm from the soto stream, Buenos Aires, Argentina.Parasitology research · 2026Article
- Prevalence and Genetic Diversity of Blastocystis sp. in Humans, Dogs and Cats in Gabon: A One Health Perspective.Zoonoses and public health · 2026Article
- Commensal, pathogen, or passenger? Rethinking the role ofOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Review
- Crossing the species barrier: Bidirectional transmission ofOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Review
- Aspects of Genetic Diversity, Host Specificity and Public Health Significance of Single-Celled Intestinal Parasites Commonly Observed in Humans and Mostly Referred to as 'Non-Pathogenic'.APMIS : acta pathologica, microbiologica, et immunologica Scandinavica · 2025Review
- Molecular Identification ofJournal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Prevalence ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The effects of LED Spectra on synthesis of antiparasitic bioactive compound in Eurycoma longifolia hairy root culture against Blastocystis Sp.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- AnthropogenicMicroorganisms · 2025Article
- Genetic diversity of single-celled microorganismCurrent research in microbial sciences · 2025Article
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- Relationship betweenOpen research Europe · 2025Article
- Molecular identification and subtypes analysis of Blastocystis in South Khorasan province, Eastern Iran.Molecular biology reports · 2024Article
- A cross-sectional survey ofOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2024Article
- Asymptomatic carriage of intestinal protists is common in children in Lusaka Province, Zambia.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Disentangling social, environmental, and zoonotic transmission pathways of a gastrointestinal protozoan (Blastocystis spp.) in northeast Madagascar.American journal of biological anthropology · 2024Article
- Effect ofJournal of parasitic diseases : official organ of the Indian Society for Parasitology · 2024Article
85 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBlastocystis sp. is currently the most common intestinal protist found in human feces and considered an emerging parasite with a worldwide distribution. Because of its potential impact in public health, we reinforced the picture of Blastocystis sp. prevalence and molecular subtype distribution in Africa by performing the first survey of this parasite in Senegal.
methodsStool samples from 93 symptomatic presenting with various gastrointestinal disorders or asymptomatic children living in three villages of the Senegal River Basin were tested for the presence of Blastocystis sp. by non-quantitative and quantitative PCR using primer pairs targeting the SSU rDNA gene. Positive samples were subtyped to investigate the frequency of Blastocystis sp. subtypes in our cohort and the distribution of subtypes in the symptomatic and asymptomatic groups of children.
resultsBy the use of molecular tools, all 93 samples were found to be positive for Blastocystis sp. indicating a striking parasite prevalence of 100%. Mixed infections by two or three subtypes were identified in eight individuals. Among a total of 103 subtyped isolates, subtype 3 was most abundant (49.5%) followed by subtype 1 (28.2%), subtype 2 (20.4%) and subtype 4 (1.9%). Subtype 3 was dominant in the symptomatic group while subtypes 1 and 2 were detected with equal frequency in both symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. The distribution of subtypes was compared with those available in other African countries and worldwide. Comparison confirmed that subtype 4 is much less frequently detected or absent in Africa while it is commonly found in Europe. Potential sources of Blastocystis sp. infection including human-to-human, zoonotic, and waterborne transmissions were also discussed.
conclusionsThe prevalence of Blastocystis sp. in our Senegalese population was the highest prevalence ever recovered worldwide for this parasite by reaching 100%. All cases were caused by subtypes 1, 2, 3 and 4 with a predominance of subtype 3. More than half of the children infected by Blastocystis sp. presented various gastrointestinal disorders. Such high prevalence of blastocystosis in developing countries makes its control a real challenge for public health authorities.
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