Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Microsporidia are an obligate intracellular, spore-forming parasite that has been implicated in emerging infectious diseases. They are increasingly recognized as opportunistic parasites in AIDS patients as well as pathogens in immunocompetent individuals. Though more then 1000 species were named in Microsporidia phylum, only 11 to 14 species were known to infect human. A wide range of clinical presentation was associated with this infection. Chronic diarrhea is the commonest manifestation however myositis, keratoconjunctivitis and disseminated infection have been reported. OBJECTIVE: To review cases with microsporidia infection. PATIENTS AND METHOD: All requests for suspected cases of microsporidia sent to the Medical Microbiology and Parasitology laboratory, School of Medical Sciences, USM from year 2003 to 2007 were reviewed. Patients were considered positive whenever the microsporidia oocysts were detected by Gram Chromotrope staining method. The detailed histories of patients with positive results were traced from the hospital record office. RESULTS: Five patients were detected as positive for microsporidia oocyst within 4 years study period. Four of them were children aged 3 months to 8 years old. One patient was an immunocompromised adult. All patients had gastrointestinal symptoms. No other clinical manifestations were reported. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that microsporidia are present in our local setting despite the fact that their detection is low. Education to the clinician is important to instill awareness on the diversity of its clinical presentations to support appropriate specimen collection and examination procedures.