Intestinal parasites, including Cryptosporidium species, in Iraqi patients with sickle-cell anaemia

Stool samples were obtained from individuals admitted to three hospitals in Basra during November 1997-May 1998. Of 40 patients with sickle-cell anaemia, 25 (62.5%) had parasitic infections. In the apparently healthy comparison group, 26 of 175 individuals (14.8%) had intestinal parasitic infections, a statistically significant difference. The most common intestinal parasites isolated in the sickle-cell patients were Blastocystis hominis (36%) and Giardia lamblia (28%). The isolation rate of Cryptosporidium species in sickle-cell patients (5%) was not significantly different from that in apparently healthy individuals (1.14%). We report for the first time the isolation of Isospora belli from a sickle-cell patient in Iraq and the Mediterranean region.