Intestinal Protozoa and Helminths in the Peoples of Western (Anatolia) Turkey

Abstract

Summary An examination of 349 fecal specimens fixed by the MIF (Merthiolate-iodine-formalin) preservation method revealed the presence of ten species of protozoa, seven of nematodes, four of cestodes, eight species of trematodes and a tyroglyphoid mite. There was a predominance of the small race of Entamoeba histolytica over the large race and only a single infection with Isospora was noted. Although there was an unusually high incidence of eggs of Dicrocelium the conditions of these eggs in stool specimens indicate spurious infections. Fasciolopsis and Clonorchis in Turkish soldiers from the Korean campaign implicate travel as the probable reason for infection; Schistosoma mansoni infections probably were contracted as a result of pilgrimages to Mecca.