Background: Although the Centres for disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends empiric treatment for\r\nschistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis (prevalent but treatable parasitic infections) in some refugee groups it is unclear\r\nif these guidelines should be extended to non-refugee immigrants from endemic areas. We aimed to assess\r\nseroprevalence of, and risk factors for, positive schistosomiasis and strongyloides serology in HIV-infected patients\r\nfrom endemic areas attending a European Infectious Diseases clinic.\r\nMethods: In a prospective cohort study, HIV-infected patients from helminth endemic areas underwent clinical\r\nassessment and blood draw for schistosomiasis and strongyloides serology, routine haematology and inflammatory\r\nmarkers (ESR and CRP). Between-group differences were analyzed by Wilcoxin Signed Rank and Fisher�s t tests as\r\nappropriate.\r\nResults: Ninety HIV-infected patients (mean [standard deviation (SD)] age 34 [6] years, 29% male) were recruited\r\nfrom May 2008 to June 2009. Nine (10%) subjects tested positive for helminth infections. Seven tested positive for\r\nschistosomiasis (8%) while two tested positive for strongyloides (2%). Seropositive subjects were more likely to have\r\nhigher eosinophil counts (mean [SD]) (0.3 [0.3] vs. 0.15 [0.2] x103cells/cm, P = 0.021) with a trend towards lower\r\nCD4+ T-cell counts (mean [SD]) (280 [218] vs. 395 [217] cells/mm3, P = 0.08).\r\nConclusion: The high prevalence of helminth infections (10%) in asymptomatic HIV infected adults identified in this\r\nstudy supports routine screening of immigrants from helminth endemic areas or with exposure history
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