srjmsSRJMSSRJMS2788-9483https://doi.org/10.47310/srjms.2023.v03i01.018Molecular Diagnosis of Intestinal Protozoa for Patients in Wasit Province, IraqBassamAbdul AmeerAhmedBaraaAbdulsalamHraijaCIntestinal parasitic infections remain a significant public health concern of global importance. The developed molecular methods demonstrate considerable specificity and sensitivity compared with microscopy. Compared with conventional methods, methods based on detecting intestinal protozoa DNA are faster, have higher sensitivity and specificity, can detect multiple parasites simultaneously and can quantify and genotype parasitic DNA. The objective of the present study was to Molecular diagnosis of intestinal protozoa for patients in Wasit province. A total of 100 stool samples (44 male and 56 female) were randomly collected from patients in Wasit province during January 2023 to April 2023 and diagnosis by Multiplex PCR methods. Of the 100 patients with abdominal pain, they were found to be infected with intestinal parasites upon examination by Nested PCR method. The protozoa included Cryptosporidium parvum (23.96%), Blastocystis hominis (17.71%), Giardia lamblia (20.83%), Entamoeba histolytica (62.50%) and Isospora (7.29%). Our study supports implementation of molecular tools into the parasitology diagnostic laboratory, even in under-resourced settings. Such tools are particularly important for detecting protozoa that are challenging to identify by microscopy. Molecular tools are also essential for distinguishing between morphologically identical species.