Dientamoeba fragilis, a Commensal in Children in Danish Day Care Centers

摘要

Dientamoeba fragilis is an intestinal protozoan of debated clinical significance (1–7). In Denmark, D. fragilis appears to be common in the apparently healthy adult population (8); meanwhile, baseline data on the prevalence in apparently healthy children are lacking. Dientamoeba fragilis is commonly detected in stools from children tested for gastrointestinal pathogens, with a peak (ca. 70% of samples positive) in 7-year-olds (9). A randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial failed to show improved clinical outcome in D. fragilis-positive children treated with metronidazole compared with those treated with a placebo, and the observed eradicative effect of metronidazole was moderate and transient, and a spontaneous decrease in the proportion of children testing positive was observed in the placebo group (10).