One of the infections that mimic tuberculosis (TB) is paragonimiasis (PRG), a foodborne parasitic disease caused by lung flukes of the genus Paragonimus. In the northeastern states of India, TB and PRG are endemic; however, PRG is rarely included in the differential diagnosis of TB.
This is a cross-sectional study of patients receiving TB treatment in the Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF)-supported TB programme in Mon district, in collaboration with the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Dibrugarh, Assam, between November 2012 and December 2013. The aim of the study was to address limited evidence on the dual burden of TB and PRG in northeastern India, and we aimed to document the prevalence of PRG among TB patients using sputum smear, stool examination for children B15 years and ELISA.
