Histopathological Diagnosis of Giardia Lamblia Infection on Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy in Adult Population of Karachi City

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the frequency of giardiasis in upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in adult population of Saddar area of Karachi Methods: A prospective cross sectional study was done in the Histopathology Department of Dr. Tahir laboratory, Hamdard University Hospital, Karachi during the period ofJanuary 2016 to December 2017. Total 187 cases of duodenal biopsies were received at laboratory and were examined for diagnosis of giardiasis. All the data collected was statistically analyzed and the results were tabulated. Results: From 187 cases, there were 22.4" (42: 187) biopsies were giardiasis positive, from which 73% (31142) of them were males and 26% l 11:42 ) of them were females. There were 57.2°,/, (83/145) males and 42.7% (61145) females who were giardiasis negative_ Mean age of patients with giardiasis was 3018years while mean age of giardiasis negative patients was 55 17 years. Celiac disease was seen in 5 cases which were associated with giardiasis. Conclusion: A considerable proportion of adults were infected with Giardia lamblia. In the light of these results, we conclude that significant number of adult population of Karachi residing in Saddar area were affected with this protozoa which is mainly due to poor sanitation.. contamination ofdrinking water and food.