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Concept
Cryptosporidium parvum
Summary
Cryptosporidium parvum is one of several species that cause cryptosporidiosis, a parasitic disease of the mammalian intestinal tract.
Primary symptoms of C. parvum infection are acute, watery, and nonbloody diarrhea. C. parvum infection is of particular concern in immunocompromised patients, where diarrhea can reach 10–15 times per day. Other symptoms may include anorexia, nausea/vomiting, and abdominal pain. Extra-intestinal sites include the lung, liver, and gall bladder, where it causes respiratory cryptosporidiosis, hepatitis, and cholecystitis, respectively.
Infection is caused by ingestion of sporulated oocysts transmitted by the faecal-oral route. In healthy human hosts, the median infective dose is 132 oocysts. The general C. parvum lifecycle is shared by other members of the genus. Invasion of the apical tip of ileal enterocytes by sporozoites and merozoites causes pathology seen in the disease.
Infection is generally self-limiting in immunocompetent people. In immunocompromised patients, such as those with AIDS or those undergoing immunosuppressive therapy, infection may not be self-limiting, leading to dehydration and, in severe cases, death.
Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts are very difficult to detect; their small size means they are difficult to detect in fecal samples. A fecal ELISA could detect the presence of the parasite. A serological ELISA is unable to distinguish between past and present infections.
Cryptosporidium parvum is considered to be the most important waterborne pathogen in developed countries. The protozoa also caused the largest waterborne-disease outbreak ever documented in the United States, making 403,000 people ill in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1993. It is resistant to all practical levels of chlorination, surviving for 24 hours at 1000 mg/L free chlorine. It is an obligate intracellular pathogen.
The most effective way to prevent the spread of C. parvum is to avoid contact with contaminated feces. Avoiding this contact, especially with young children, is important, as they are more likely to come into oral contact and have the parasite transferred into the body.
Official source
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