Strongyloidiasis Detected by the Agar Plate Culture Method among Patients Infected by HIV

Abstract

To evaluate the rate of strongyloidiasis among HIV/AIDS patients, stools and duodenal juice were examined using the agar plate culture method. From January to June 1993, a total of 60 HIV/AIDS patients were required for duodenal aspirate and three serial samples of freshly passed stools. Stools and duodenal aspirate were dispensed on an agar plate culture; after incubation at 28°C during 48 h, screening of plates was made at 10 ×. The presence of furrows and worms of short buccal chamber and prominent genital primordium were positive for Strongyloides stercoralis. Most patients were men (91.7%); their mean age, of 33.9 years (SD ± 10.6); their median CD4⁺ T-cells count, of 105/μL (range of 12 to 646). S. stercoralis was detected in three patients (5%). In duodenal juice, the three patients showed the parasite, but in feces, only two (3.3%). In these two individuals, the worms were found in feces by agar culture and Faust's concentration method. The rate of S. stercoralis in feces of HIV/AIDS individuals (3.3%) by agar culture method was similar to that formerly reported from the general Mexican population (2.9%) using standard concentration procedures. Hence, in this immunocompromised population of a low prevalence city, there was no advantage to using an agar plate culture for strongyloidiasis.