Surveillance of enteric parasites in an infectious diseases hospital, Kolkata, India

A hospital-based laboratory surveillance was conducted to study the prevalence and intensity of enteric parasites in India, with a special emphasis on West Bengal. The survey was conducted among the patients admitted between January 2010 and December 2015 to the Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital with diarrhoeal complaints. The present study reports the occurrence and prevalence of 3 most abundant enteric parasites, viz. Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica and Cryptosporadium sp. in Kolkata and surrounding. Of the 4208 samples screened during the study period from ID Hospital, 297 (7.05%) were positive for Giardia lamblia, 20 (0.475%) were positive for Entamoeba histolytica and 94 (2.23%) were positive for Cryptosporidium sp.