Carriage of Pathogenic Organisms in Gastrointestinal Tract Among Chandigarh Population
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37506/bpkssv83Keywords:
Carriage, Stool, Community, Pathogenic, Gastrointestinal tractAbstract
Objectives: To understand the epidemiology of various pathogens, it is imperative to understand the carriage of these pathogens in asymptomatic individuals. This helps in understanding the transmission of disease and thus the control measures. This study was carried out to detect the carriage of various pathogenic bacteria, parasites, and Rotaviruses in stool samples of the healthy population of Chandigarh.
Materials and Methods: 500 non-duplicate fecal samples from healthy subjects were collected and processed for isolation of pathogenic bacteria by microbiological culture. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent Assay was performed for Clostridium difficile toxins and Rotavirus antigen detection. Intestinal parasites were detected by wet mount and iodine mount directly, and after the formol-ether concentration technique for parasites. The data were analyzed descriptively using Microsoft Excel, and the results were summarized as percentages to provide a clear understanding of the distribution and trends in the dataset.
Results: Carriage of intestinal pathogens was found to be 44.4% and 55.6% in children and adults, respectively. Carriage of Shigella species, Salmonella species, and Vibrio cholerae was nil in our study, with 2.6% carriage of Clostridium difficile. Rotavirus carriage was 3.6% in children. The carriage of parasites was more in adults than in children.
Conclusions: The two main concerns in our study were C.difficile carriage and intestinal parasite carriage in adults. Educating the masses regarding hand hygiene is the most important step in this regard. Regarding parasitic infections, a single dose albendazole in school-going children has resulted in lower carriage in children than adults. The same approach, along with education regarding hygienic practices, can be started in the adult population also.
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