HOW
B.HOMINIS IS CAUGHT
Infection with B.hominis occurs
via contaminated water & food.
Susan
R. from Canada was diagnosed with both D.fragilis and B.hominis
in 1999. She has long suspected the neighbourhood's water
supply as a possible source of infection, and tried unsuccessfully,
until this year, to alert the authorities:
"I
was diagnosed three years ago with Blasto and DF. When I pointed
to the water source in the neighbourhood I was told that
I was crazy and that it was not the source.
I shut up about the water thing 'cause I was
so sick I just needed to look after me. Now three years later and
a bunch of people over the last three years all with symptoms and
finally the water board is willing to look at the water source.
Which is probably why I couldn't shake this sucker."
Susan
was treated with Flagyl, which failed to relieve her symptoms.
The
cysts can survive in water for up to 19 days at normal temperatures
but are fragile at extreme temperatures and in common disinfectants.
Observations on the ultrastructure and viability of the cystic
stage of
Blastocystis hominis from human feces.
Moe KT, et al
Parasitol Res 1996;82(5):439-44
|
Consumption
of untreated water is believed to be a source of infection.
(Kain
et al 1987) |
Transmission
of intestinal blastocystis related to the quality of drinking
water.
Taamasri
P, et al. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 2000 Mar;31(1):112-7
|
The
thick-walled cysts are responsible for external transmission
via the faecal-oral route. A life cycle for B. hominis is postulated
on the basis of these findings.
Parasitol Res 1995;81(5):446-50 Elucidation of the life cycle
of the intestinal protozoan Blastocystis hominis. Singh M, |
|
