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Cross-sectional surveys and subtype classification of human Blastocystis isolates from four epidemiological settings in China

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Abstract

The prevalence and geographical distribution of the intestinal protozoa Blastocystis in humans across China is unknown, and the relative importance of different subtypes has yet to be investigated. We assessed the community prevalence and relative frequencies of different Blastocystis subtypes in four epidemiological settings in China, i.e., Shanghai municipality, Yongjia county (Zhejiang province), Eryuan county, and Menghai county (both Yunnan province). Blastocystis infection was detected with the culture method, and the subtype was identified with polymerase chain reaction using a set of subtype-specific primers. The prevalence at the four study settings was 1.9, 5.9, 18.4, and 32.6%, respectively. People aged greater than or equal to 60 years had a higher prevalence in the former two settings, Shanghai and Yongjia, whereas the highest infection rate was found among individuals aged 10–17 years in the latter two settings, Eryuan and Menghai. A higher prevalence was found in men in the former two settings but in women in the latter two settings. Five different Blastocystis subtypes were identified from the 192 isolates. Subtype 3 was the predominant type, followed by subtype 1. In conclusion, the epidemiology of Blastocystis varies across China.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all participants and the staff of the Yunnan Institute for Parasitic Diseases Control and Prevention, Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Menghai county and Simao prefecture, the Yunnan Institute for Schistosomiasis Control and Prevention, Eryuan branch, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Shanghai, and the People’s Hospital of Yongjia county for their commitment during the cross-sectional surveys. This investigation received financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology, China (grant no. 2005DKA21104), which supports the Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology of the Ministry of Health in China, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences to H. Y. (B17406007), and the Swiss National Science Foundation (project no. PPOOB-102883). P. Steinmann acknowledges support from the Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft, Basel, the SDC-sponsored program “Jeunes Chercheurs,” and is grateful to the Janggen Pöhn Foundation for a personal stipend for the last year of his Ph.D. The execution of the research described in this article complied with all applicable laws of the People’s Republic of China.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, 200025, People’s Republic of China

    Lan Hua Li, Shan Lv, Ling Zhang, Xiao Mei Tong, Shao Hong Chen & Xiao Nong Zhou

  2. Department of Preventive Medicine, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, 261042, People’s Republic of China

    Lan Hua Li

  3. Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Shanghai, Shanghai, 200336, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao Ping Zhang

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, Nara Women’s University, Nara, 630-8560, Japan

    Hisao Yoshikawa

  5. Department of Parasitology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Yanagido 1-1, Gifu, 501-1194, Japan

    Zhiliang Wu

  6. Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Swiss Tropical Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002, Basel, Switzerland

    Peter Steinmann & Jürg Utzinger

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  1. Lan Hua Li
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  2. Xiao Ping Zhang
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  3. Shan Lv
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  4. Ling Zhang
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  9. Xiao Mei Tong
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  10. Shao Hong Chen
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  11. Xiao Nong Zhou
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Correspondence to Xiao Nong Zhou.

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Li, L.H., Zhang, X.P., Lv, S. et al. Cross-sectional surveys and subtype classification of human Blastocystis isolates from four epidemiological settings in China. Parasitol Res 102, 83–90 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0727-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-007-0727-0

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