Blastocystis subtypes detected in humans and animals from Colombia.

Blastocystis is a common enteric protist colonizing probably more than 1 billion people along with a large variety of non-human hosts. This protist has been linked to symptoms and diseases such as abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, flatulence and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Remarkable genetic diversity has been observed, leading to the subdivision of the genus into multiple subtypes (ST), some of which are exclusively found in non-human hosts.

Temporal variation of Trypanosoma cruzi discrete typing units in asymptomatic Chagas disease patients.

Chagas disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi is a public health problem in Latin America. This parasite displays a high genetic diversity evidenced in six Discrete Typing Units (DTUs) namely TcI-TcVI. The aim of this study was to observe the temporal variation of the DTUs in asymptomatic patients at three different times (10 days interval).