RT Book, Section
A1 Patterson, Maria Jevitz
A2 Rudolph, Colin D.
A2 Rudolph, Abraham M.
A2 Lister, George E.
A2 First, Lewis R.
A2 Gershon, Anne A.
SR Print(0)
ID 7031549
T1 Chapter 344. Blastocystis Hominis
T2 Rudolph's Pediatrics, 22e
YR 2011
FD 2011
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-149723-7
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=7031549
RD 2024/10/04
AB Continued  controversy  exists  about  Blastocystis  hominis.  Long  considered  a  protozoan  of  worldwide  distribution,  most  likely  an  amoeba,  this  strict  anaerobe  has  been  classified  by  small  subunit  rRNA  gene  analysis  into  the  heterogeneous  group  of  protists,  the  Stramenopiles,1  which  also  includes  diatoms  and  brown  algae  (kelp).  Whether  there  are  single  or  multiple  species  is  unresolved.  No  definite  life  cycle  has  been  delineated.  Transmission  is  presumed  to  occur  by  the  fecal-oral  route  from  contaminated  food  or  water.  The  organism’s  pathogenicity  remains  controversial,2-4  and  asymptomatic  infection  is  common.  Some  B  hominis  cause  disease  rather  than  colonization  when  present  in  large  numbers  in  the  absence  of  other  stool  pathogens.  Others  consider  B  hominis  an  enteric  commensal  and  ascribe  response  to  treatment  as  elimination  of  other  undetected  stool  pathogens  or  resolution  of  noninfectious  etiology.  Others  suggest  it  is  an  opportunistic  pathogen.