Prevalence of microsporidian in patients from the UK/ version 2
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Prevalence of microsporidian in patients from the Midlands area, UK
IRAS ID
181898
Contact name
Antonio Peña-Fernández
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
De Montfort University
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Microsporidia are fungal parasites which are recognised as emerging human pathogens. These opportunistic pathogens cause a variety of systemic and non-systemic diseases dramatically increasing the morbidity and mortality of patients. Microsporidial infections are currently increasing in both immune-competent and immune-deficient groups such as children, the elderly and organ transplant recipients, making these pathogens a current public health concern. Determining the prevalence of microsporidia in England is critical to developing protocols for prevention and control of these pathogens. However, there are no studies in the literature that report the prevalence of these parasites in the UK, apart from a study that reported the prevalence of Enterocytozoon bieneusi in AIDS patients from North West England (Kyaw et al., 1997).
The aim of this project is to determine the prevalence of microsporidia and the species implicated in patients from the Midlands, England, using molecular analysis, and to establish a possible routine analysis, identifying the most suitable clinical sample to determine these pathogens. This information will be used to improve detection of microsporidia establishing a well-defined method to develop future studies at a national level to implement a possible routine analysis for detecting these pathogens, as an early diagnosis is essential for preventing morbidity and mortality of microsporidiosis (Ramanan and Pritt, 2014).
REC name
North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0847
Date of REC Opinion
23 Oct 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion