Korean J Parasitol.  2005 Sep;43(3):111-114. 10.3347/kjp.2005.43.3.111.

Prevalence of diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium parvum in non-HIV patients in Jeollanam-do, Korea

• Lee JK
• Song HJ
• Yu JR

• KMID: 1720501
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2005.43.3.111

Abstract

The present study investigated the prevalence rate of Cryptosporidium parvum as a cause of diarrhea. We examined 942 stools of unidentified reasons occurring in patients in whom no immunosuppression had been detected. We examined the stools for Cryptosporidium parvum via modified acid-fast staining. The clinical records of all of the positive patients were then analyzed. Nine (1%) of the stools among the 942 diarrheal patients were positive for C. parvum. The positive rate in the males was 1.1% (6/522) and the positive rate of the females was 0.7% (3/420). Age distribution revealed that the highest positive rates were in patients in their sixties, with a positive rate of 2.5% (4/158). In the clinical tests, levels of c-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rates, and neutrophil proportions were normally increased in the peripheral blood, whereas the lymphocyte proportion exhibited a tendency towards decrease. The pathological findings were compatible with an inflammatory reaction in the host.

Keyword

Cryptosporidium parvum; diarrhea

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Animals
Child, Preschool
Cryptosporidiosis/*epidemiology/immunology
*Cryptosporidium/isolation & purification
Cryptosporidium parvum/isolation & purification
Diarrhea/*epidemiology/immunology/parasitology
Feces/parasitology
Female
HIV Seronegativity
Humans
Immunocompetence
Korea/epidemiology
Lymphocyte Count
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Staining and Labeling