Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32020333›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of pediatrics2020

Blastocystis in Swiss children: a practical approach.

Corinne Légeret, Céline Rüttimann, Raoul I Furlano, Theresa Ruf, Sven Poppert, Hans Fankhauser, Henrik Köhler

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Article in European journal of pediatrics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Epidemiology of HumanTropical medicine and infectious disease · 2023
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Corinne LégeretChildren's Hospital of Aarau, Tellstrasse 9, 5001, Aarau, Switzerland. Corinne.Legeret@ksa.ch.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6972-542X
Céline RüttimannChildren's Hospital of Aarau, Tellstrasse 9, 5001, Aarau, Switzerland.
Raoul I FurlanoChildren's University Hospital of Basel, Spitalstrasse 33, 4056, Basel, Switzerland.
Theresa RufSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4051, Basel, Switzerland.
Sven PoppertSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4051, Basel, Switzerland.
Hans FankhauserHospital of Aarau, Tellstrasse 25, 5001, Aarau, Switzerland.
Henrik KöhlerChildren's Hospital of Aarau, Tellstrasse 9, 5001, Aarau, Switzerland.
Kantonsspital Aarau · CHSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute · CHUniversity Children’s Hospital Basel · CHUniversity Hospital of Basel · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Blastocystis is a parasite with a worldwide distribution and a varying prevalence in different countries. The pleomorphic nature of the protozoon and the lack of understanding a possible pathogenesis have led to confusion regarding its clinical significance. The aim of the study was to shed light on clinical characteristics of pediatric patients in Swiss children with a positive stool sample for Blastocystis, in order to provide recommendations for a practical approach for the clinician to know whom, when, and how to test. This is a retrospective study of pediatric patients, whose stool has been tested positive for Blastocystis in the last 10 years in northern Switzerland. A total of 4047 stool samples, belonging to 1887 different patients, were analyzed; 240 stool samples (of 160 patients) were tested positive for Blastocystis. On average, 2.2 (CI 1.98-2.35) stool samples per patient were analyzed, of which 1.48 (CI 1.36-1.61) were positive for Blastocystis. In 63% abdominal pain was the leading symptom, while in 17.5% it was an accidental finding without symptoms. There was a high significance in correlation of abdominal pain and chronicity (p < 0.0001) but none in diarrhea (p = 0.082) nor nausea/vomiting or other symptoms and chronicity. Followed by Entamoeba coli (8%), 26.3% of the patients with Blastocystis had a co-infection with another parasite, mostly Endolimax nana (13%).Conclusion: Carriage of Blastocystis is common; therefore, only children/teenagers at risk for a symptomatic Blastocystis infection should be tested. There is a good correlation between Blastocystis and chronic abdominal pain. Children with abdominal symptoms persisting over 4 weeks should have two different stool samples analyzed. No screening after travels/immigration is recommended.What is Known:• Blastocystis has a worldwide distribution.• The clinical significance is unclear.What is New:• Based on retrospective data, we recommend to only test children/teenagers with chronic abdominal pain for Blastocystis.• Two different stool samples should be examined by microscopy; serological investigations are not warranted.

Indexed as

Abdominal PainAdolescentBlastocystisBlastocystis InfectionsChildChild, PreschoolChronic PainCoinfectionDiarrheaFecesFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMalePrevalenceAbdominal painBlastocystisCarriageChildrenFunctional painParasites

Identifiers

PMID32020333
OpenAlexW3004508904

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.