Occurrence of intestinal parasites and bacteria, with the emphasis on Giardia intestinalis in children under 5 years old in Magude village, Maputo, Mozambique

Background: Intestinal protozoa are a major causative agent of gastrointestinal problems in humans and animals. They are detected worldwide, mainly in developing countries where environmental sanitation is inadequate. Infections can affect people of all ages, but children are particularly vulnerable. Here we investigated intestinal protozoa and bacteria in Mozambique.Methods: We analysed the occurence of Giardia intestinalis and other intestinal parasites in stool samples from 291 children under five years of age, by microscopy. Most of the samples (279) were also analysed by multiplex PCR for the occurrence of intestinal parasites and common bacteria. Positive Giardia samples were further subtyped Results: G. intestinalis was detected in 72.2% (n=210/291) of study participants. Assemblage identification was possible in 45 cases by PCR. We identified assemblages; A and B, and four sub-assemblages.Sub-assemblage AI, which may have zoonotic potential, was identified in 37.8% of the analysed samples,. Enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) was detected in 77.8% of the faeces samples analysed. PCR was more sensitive for parasite detection than microscopy. Conclusions: Our results indicated that microscopic diagnosis is likely sufficient for identifying symptomatic intestinal infections.The presence of G. intestinalis AI warrants special attention in future studies, and the attention of the Mozambique public health authority.