MOLECULAR SURVEILLANCE OF GIARDIA INTESTINALIS WITH OTHER CO- INFECTING ENTERIC PARASITES IN BARAK VALLEY, ASSAM

This study aims to find out the occurrences of different gastro intestinal parasites mainly Giardia intestinalis and its co-infection with other parasites like Cryptosporidium sp, Entamoeba histolytica and Blastocystis spp. in stool samples (n= 598) through microscopic analysis followed by PCR based method in a cross sectional study carried out in the Barak valley zone of Southern Assam. Of the various demographic features, prevalence was highest in the 512 years age group (P= 0·0001). Our study further highlighted the rate of infection is relatively higher in case of female (P=0.3139) than that of male. In addition this study also indicated that most of the carrier of this parasite Giardia intestinalis does not have any diarrheal symptoms (P= 0.0095). As this study is mainly focused on the surveillance of Giardia intestinalis, during the investigation the occurrence of other gastro intestinal parasite was also observed but their role as a co infecting parasite is yet not clear.