Table 2.
Characteristics of 78 Strongyloides-seropositive patients
| Characteristic | N (%) |
|---|---|
| Inpatients | 22 (28) |
| Outpatients | 46 (59) |
| Site unknown | 10 (13) |
| Infectious diseases consult | 6 (8) |
| Blood eosinophilia | 69 (88) |
| Median, range | 14, 7–38 |
| Stool parasite test results | |
| Patients tested | 45 (58) |
| Strongyloides* | 5 (11) |
| Hookworm | 1 (2) |
| Clonorchis | 1 (2) |
| Blastocystis | 5 (11) |
| Serological test results for other parasites | |
| Toxocara, N = 9 | 7 (78) |
| Schistosomiasis, N = 1 | 0 |
| Filariasis, N = 1 | 0 |
| Symptoms† | |
| Respiratory | 36 (46) |
| Gastrointestinal | 33 (42) |
| Unspecified rash | 7 (9) |
| Disseminated strongyloidiasis | 1 (1) |
| Disseminated strongyloidiasis, probable | 1 (1) |
| Antiparasitic treatments ordered, N = 55 | |
| Ivermectin | 50 (91) |
| Mebendazole‡ | 3 (5) |
| Albendazole | 2 (4) |
| Posttreatment laboratory tests | |
| Eosinophilia | 42 (76) |
| Decreased/normalized | 33 (79) |
| Persistent | 9 (21) |
| Serology titer after 10 days to 29 months | 19 (35) |
| Normalized | 1 (5) |
| Decreased | 14 (74) |
| Unchanged§ | 3 (16) |
| Increased‖ | 1 (5) |
*
Four Micronesian and one Chinese.
†
Includes patients with multiple symptoms.
‡
One patient with hookworm, treated with mebendazole only.
§
Two patients untreated, one patient’s second test carried out 7 weeks posttreatment.
‖
Patient was treated with mebendazole (unclear if medication was taken before or after posttreatment laboratory test).