Brief Article
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World J Clin Infect Dis. May 25, 2013; 3(2): 13-19
Published online May 25, 2013. doi: 10.5495/wjcid.v3.i2.13
Natural contamination of human hands with enteric parasites in Indian Subcontinent
M Khalid Ijaz, Kaisar A Talukder, Mohammad Aslam, Rashidul Haque, Sandipan Ganguly, Ishrat J Azmi, Md Shawkat Hossain, Avik Kumar Mukherjee, Dibyendu Raj, Ijaz Ahmed, Jabeen Kamal, Joseph R Rubino, Alam Nur-E-Kamal
M Khalid Ijaz, Joseph R Rubino, Reckitt Benckiser LLC, One Philips Parkway, Montvale, NJ 07645, United States
Kaisar A Talukder, Mohammad Aslam, Rashidul Haque, Ishrat J Azmi, Md Shawkat Hossain, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
Sandipan Ganguly, Avik Kumar Mukherjee, Dibyendu Raj, Division of Parasitology, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata-700010, India
Ijaz Ahmed, Jabeen Kamal, Alam Nur-E-Kamal, Department of Biology, Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, NY 11225, United States
Author contributions: All the authors contributed to this paper.
Supported by President’s Award, Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York and Reckitt Benckiser LLC, New Jersey, United States
Correspondence to: Alam Nur-E-Kamal, PhD, Department of Biology, Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, 1150 Carroll Street, Brooklyn, NY 11225, United States. alam@mec.cuny.edu
Telephone: +1-718-2705078 Fax: +1-718-22706498
Received: February 4, 2013
Revised: April 7, 2013
Accepted: May 9, 2013
Published online: May 25, 2013
Processing time: 111 Days and 3.5 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: The authors report contamination of human hands with enteric parasites in two independent sites surveyed in two developing countries of the Indian Subcontinent. This study indicates that contamination of hands with parasite ova/(oo)cysts are common among those populations already infected and this may play a role in continued cycle of transmission and/or re-infection within the community.