Prevalence and Subtype Identification of Blastocystis sp in Healthy Individuals in the Tunis Area, Tunisia

Imène Ben Abda (1, 2) , Nabil Maatoug (1, 2) , Rania Ben Romdhane (2) , Nada Bouhelmi (1) , Najet Zallegua (1) , Karim Aoun (2, 1) , Eric Viscogliosi (3) , Aida Bouratbine (2, 1)

1 Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Institut Pasteur de Tunis
2 LR11IPT06 - Laboratoire de Parasitologie Médicale, Biotechnologies et Biomolécules
3 CIIL - Centre d’Infection et d’Immunité de Lille - INSERM U 1019 - UMR 9017 - UMR 8204

Blastocystis sp. is currently the most common eukaryotic parasite found in humans. Despite its potential public health impact, epidemiological data regarding its prevalence and molecular subtype (ST) distribution in Maghreb are rarely reported. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the parasite in a cohort of healthy food handler Tunisian individuals and to acquire the first molecular data regarding the distribution of Blastocystis sp. STs in this country. Therefore, 524 fecal samples were collected, and 68 of them (13%) were identified as positive for the parasite by direct-light microscopy of smears. Seventeen samples of 100 negative by microscopy were also shown to be positive by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Among all the positive samples, 61 Blastocystis isolates were subtyped using partial small subunit ribosomal RNA gene analysis. ST3 was the most abundant (51%) followed by ST1 (30%), ST2 (16%), and ST4 and ST7 (both 1.6%).

Domaines: Microbiologie et Parasitologie; Médecine humaine et pathologie

Imène Ben Abda, Nabil Maatoug, Rania Ben Romdhane, Nada Bouhelmi, Najet Zallegua, et al.. Prevalence and Subtype Identification of Blastocystis sp in Healthy Individuals in the Tunis Area, Tunisia. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2017, 96 (1), pp.202-204. ⟨10.4269/ajtmh.16-0506⟩. ⟨hal-01513650⟩