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

• DOI: 10.3347/kjp.2005.43.3.111
• Publication Date: 2008-10-30T03:18:18Z
• Authors: Jong-Kyu Lee; Hyeon-Je Song; Jae-Ran Yu
• Keywords: Adult; Cryptosporidium parvum; Diarrhea; Male; Korea; Staining and Labeling; Cryptosporidiosis; Cryptosporidium; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; Feces; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Child, Preschool; HIV Seronegativity; Prevalence; Animals; Humans; Female; Lymphocyte Count; Immunocompetence; Aged

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.