Intestinal parasites may not cause nosocomial infections in psychiatric hospitals

This study was conducted to determine whether nosocomial infections of intestinal parasites occur in psychiatric hospitals. Three fecal specimens were collected from each institutionalized patient in seven psychiatric hospitals of north Taiwan. Saline wet mounts were prepared to examine trophozoites, and the other parasite stages were detected using the formalin-ethyl acetate sedimentation technique. Hospital faculties were asked to complete a questionnaire on the demographic data, health status degree of disability, and recent occurrence of gastrointestinal distress of these patients. Of the 464 patients examined, 8.4% were found to be infected with one or more intestinal parasite species: 6.3% single infections, 1.5% double infections, and 0.6% triple infections. Significantly higher prevalences were found among the males, unmarried patients, those with lower education, institutionalized for more than 3 years, sent by social workers to the hospitals, with non-schizophrenic diseases, and with a higher degree of disability. However, only education, marriage, mode of hospitalization, and type of psychiatric disease were found to be significant determinants in a logistic regression model. The variation in prevalence related to demographic factors implies that nosocomial infections may not occur. The mode of hospitalization indicates that the patients may acquire the infections before hospitalization.