Objective: The aim of the study was to retrospectively evaluate the parasitological examination results of the patients who applied to Ege University Medical Faculty Parasitology Direct Diagnosis Laboratory.

Method: In patients from whom samples were collected for parasitic examination in feces; cellophane (Scotch) tape preparations were evaluated; and stool samples were examined by nativelugol, ethyl acetate precipitation, modified Kinyoun acid-fast and trichrome staining methods. In our study, fecal parasitological examination results of the patients admitted to our laboratory between January 2008 and December 2017 were evaluated.

Results: At least one parasite was found in the feces of 18,3% of 58.669 patients. Most frequently detected parasite was Blastocystis spp. (39.8%). Other parasites detected in decreasing order of frequency were Cryptosporidium spp (37.4%), Cyclospora spp. (7.7%), Enterobius vermicularis (4.6%), Giardia intestinalis (3.9%), Entamoeba coli (2,8%) and Entamoeba histolytica / dispar (1.8%).

Conclusion: Parasite positivity was higher between 2010-2014 and decreased gradually in the following years. The reason for fluctuations in parasite detection rates may be the increase in population and Izmir and its environs are on the route of international population mobility. According to our results especially Cryptosporidium spp. was found at higher rate especially between 2011 and 2013. Cryptosporidium spp. is chlorination-resistant and additional treatment is required for its disinfection. Another reason for its high detection rate may be the higher amounts of rainfall between 2009-2010. The data related to intestinal parasites in Turkey are mostly from regional studies, and thus national surveillance studies are needed.