Cryptosporidiosis - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Definition

Cryptosporidiosis is a diarrheal disease. It is caused by microscopic parasites of the genus Cryptosporidium. Once an animal or person is infected, the parasite lives in the intestine and passes in the stool. Approximately 400-500 cases are reported in New York State each year.

Causes

Cryptosporidium lives in the intestine of infected humans or animals. Millions of crypto germs can be released in a bowel movement from an infected human or animal. Although Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis are the most prevalent species causing disease in humans, infections by C. felis, C. meleagridis, C. canis, and C. muris have also been reported. Possible causes of this infection are :-

Contact with infected person manly with young children
Infection from pets and farm animals including farm visits to handle and feed lambs
Eating undercooked meats. Inadequately cooked sausages, tripe, faggots and offal have all been blamed for causing this illness in the past
Drinking raw unpasteurised milk
Contact with streams, ponds and similar watercourses
Drinking unchlorinated water
Swimming in a pool where there has been faecal contamination and inadequate pool maintenance.

Symptoms

The following are the most common symptoms of cryptosporidiosis. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently, Watery diarrhea. Symptoms may include :-

Vomiting
Stomach cramps
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
A slight fever.
Severe diarrhea
Malnutrition
Dehydration
Possibly death

Treatment

There is no specific treatment for cryptosporidiosis. Healthy persons with normal immune systems usually get better on their own. In some cases, if you lose a lot of fluid you may require an intravenous to replace the fluid. The use of antidiarrheal medications such as LOMOTIL and IMMODIUM may help control the diarrhea. Some drugs which may be used are PARAMOMYCIN (Humatin), SPIROMYCIN, AZITHROMYCIN and OCTREOTIDE (Sandostatin).Nitazoxanide is effective for cryptosporidiosis in immunocompetent and probably immunocompromised patients (with an alteration in the duration of treatment or the dosing regimen).

HIV-infected patients on HAART have a dramatically lower incidence of cryptosporidiosis, attributable to the effects of intestinal immune reconstitution as well as the effect on the CD4 cell count

For patients with weight loss, nutritional supplementation is usually an important aspect of treatment. In some cases, partial or total parenteral nutrition may be necessary while patients are awaiting clinical improvement in response to ART or other therapies. Consult or refer to a dietitian or nutritionist, if available. If not, assess food intake and counsel the patient about increasing caloric and nutritional intake.

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