Abstract：
The Corona pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) calls on the Saudi government to take action to control the infection. The government closed borders, prohibited travel, limited outdoor movements, and told primary and secondary care facilities to reduce all regular non-urgent health services. It is not known whether these measures have impacted the prevalence of parasitic intestinal infections. This study has therefore been carried out to investigate this issue. Dataset of 217 stool samples submitted to the King Faisal Medical Complex (KFMC) Microbiology Laboratory in Taif, Saudi Arabia for parasitological examination during the pandemic (January-June 2020) and 649 samples submitted during the corresponding months of the previous year (January-June 2019) were extracted and analyzed. Overall, 24.1% (209/866) of samples were parasitespositives; 26.6% (173/649) before and 16.5% (36/217) during the pandemic, with 79% reduction. There was a significant difference in gender-parasitism between the two periods where the majority of parasitism were for males (p<0.001). Infections were frequent in patients aged 5- 14 years both before (84/649; 12.9%) and during (12/217; 5.5%) the pandemic, with significant difference observed between the two cohorts (p<0.002). Moreover, the majority of infected patients were non-Saudi (67.9%; 142/209), with a significant difference in nationality reported, (p=0.024). Protozoa were identified in 21.8% (189) of all samples investigated, of which, Blastocystis hominis, Entamoeba coli, Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar and Cryptosporidium species were identified in 6.1% (53), 5.4% (47), 5.0% (44), 2.8% (25), and 2.3% (20), respectively. Helminths were diagnosed in 2.3% (20/866) of samples. Eggs of hookworm, Ascaris, Taenia spp, and Hymenolepis nana were detected in 0.9% (8), 0.5% (5), 0.3% (3) and 0.4% (4), respectively. In parallel with our research hypothesis, a substantial decrease in the burden of intestinal parasitic infections was recorded with the lock-down measures taken during the Corona pandemic.
摘要：
由严重急性呼吸道综合症冠状病毒2（SARSCoV-2）引起的电晕大流行呼吁沙特政府采取行动控制感染。政府关闭了边境,禁止旅行,有限的户外运动，并告诉初级和二级保健机构减少所有常规非紧急医疗服务。目前尚不清楚这些措施是否影响了肠道寄生虫感染的流行。因此，这项研究是为了调查这个问题而进行的。提交给塔伊夫国王费萨尔医疗综合体（KFMC）微生物学实验室的217个粪便样本的数据集，沙特阿拉伯在大流行期间（2020年1月至6月）进行寄生虫学检查，并提取并分析了上一年相应月份（2019年1月至6月）提交的649个样本。总的来说,24.1%(209/866)的样本是寄生虫阳性;26.6%(173/649)之前和16.5%(36/217)在大流行期间,减少79%。在两个时期之间，性别寄生现象存在显着差异，其中大多数寄生现象是男性（p<0.001）。在大流行之前（84/649;12.9％）和期间（12/217;5.5％），5-14岁的患者感染频繁。两组之间观察到显着差异（p<0.002）。此外，大多数感染患者是非沙特人(67.9%;142/209)，报告的国籍有显著差异，（p=0.024）。在所有调查的样本中，有21.8%(189个)的样本中发现了原生动物，其中，人芽囊原虫,大肠杆菌内阿米巴，贾第虫Lamblia,在6.1％（53）中鉴定出了溶组织内阿米巴和隐孢子虫。5.4%(47)，5.0%（44），2.8%(25)，和2.3%(20)，分别。在2.3%(20/866)的样本中诊断出蠕虫。钩虫的卵，蛔虫,牛带虫属,在0.9%(8)，0.5%（5），0.3%(3)和0.4%(4)，分别。与我们的研究假设同时，Corona大流行期间采取的锁定措施使肠道寄生虫感染的负担大幅下降.
