Strongyloides stercoralis infection among HIV infected individuals in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria

Strongyloides stercoralis is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions and hyper-infection and dissemination could occur in immunocompromised patients. Regular parasitic assessment of HIV patients is needed to prevent disseminated S. stercoralis infection. This study therefore determined the prevalence of S. stercoralis among HIV individuals in Osogbo, Nigeria using stool microscopy and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA) .Stool and serum samples were collected from HIV individuals who were receiving antiretroviral treatment at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital Osogbo, Nigeria. Stool samples were examined for S. stercoralis by microscopy. Serology was performed using commercially available ELISA kit to detect parasite-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG).Out of 188 (55 males and 133 females) HIV-infected individuals recruited for the study, 8.5% were positive for S. stercoralis by microscopy while 16.0% were positive by ELISA and 39 (20.7%) HIV individuals were positive with any of the two methods. The highest detection rate (73.1%) was observed with ELISA while microscopy recorded a detection rate of 39%. HIV individuals with CD4 ≤200 had a significantly higher prevalence (29.5%) compared with those with CD4 ≥200 (22.4%) (p = 0.0064).The findings of this study show that the combination of both ELISA and microscopy may improve the problem associated with the diagnosis of S. stercoralis in Nigeria.