Range of mild to severe disease
Asymptomatic hosts (usually immunocompetent)
Chronic infection: non-bloody diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain
Fulminant balantidiasis: mucoid, bloody stools
Rarely, colonic perforation
Extra-intestinal cases are rare
Rarely infecting lungs causing pneumonia or pulmonary hemorrhage
Mostly seen in elderly or immunocompromised
Death is rare
Asymptomatic hosts (usually immunocompetent)
Chronic infection: non-bloody diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain
Fulminant balantidiasis: mucoid, bloody stools
Rarely, colonic perforation
Rarely infecting lungs causing pneumonia or pulmonary hemorrhage
Mostly seen in elderly or immunocompromised
Balantidium coli
Entamoeba histolytica
Bacteroides fragilis
Shigella
Giardia lamblia
Salmonella
Enterobius
Campylobacter