ISSN 2756-3391
African Journal of Parasitology Research | Vol. 14, No. 8, August 2026 | pp. 669–676
DOI: 10.46882/AJPR/140669
Article Type: Full Length Research Paper
Title: Molecular epidemiology and genetic diversity of Blastocystis subtypes among HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals in metropolitan Maputo, Mozambique
Names of Authors: Manuel A. Langa¹, Elena J. Nhacolo¹, Amílcar S. Bhatt²
Authors’ Affiliations: ¹Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Marracuene, Mozambique. ²Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique.
Abstract: Blastocystis species are common intestinal protists whose pathogenic role and subtype distribution remain poorly understood in immunocompromised populations. This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence, subtype diversity, and clinical associations of Blastocystis infections among 480 HIV-positive individuals and 320 HIV-negative controls attending outpatient clinics in metropolitan Maputo, Mozambique. Fecal samples were initially screened using direct microscopy and xenic cultures, followed by PCR amplification and sequencing of the barcode region of the small subunit rRNA gene. The overall prevalence of Blastocystis was 28.5 percent (n = 137) in the HIV-positive cohort and 22.1 percent (n = 71) in the HIV-negative control group (P > 0.05). Molecular subtyping identified five distinct lineages: ST3 was the most common (41.3 percent), followed by ST1 (26.4 percent), ST2 (18.2 percent), ST4 (9.1 percent), and ST5 (5.0 percent). Stratified clinical analysis revealed that ST1 and ST4 infections were significantly associated with chronic watery diarrhoea and abdominal pain in HIV-positive patients with CD4+ T-cell counts below 200 cells per microliter (odds ratio = 3.42, 95 percent confidence interval [1.88 to 6.22]). Multivariate logistic regression linked general Blastocystis positivity with the consumption of untreated municipal water (odds ratio = 2.14, 95 percent confidence interval [1.31 to 3.51]). These findings demonstrate high genetic diversity of Blastocystis in urban Mozambique, highlighting the opportunistic pathogenic potential of specific subtypes in advanced immunosuppressed individuals.
Keywords: Blastocystis species, Subtypes, HIV/AIDS, Small subunit rRNA, Opportunistic pathogens, Mozambique
Manuscript Timeline: Received: 20 June 2026; Revised: 18 July 2026; Accepted: 05 August 2026; Published: 29 August 2026
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