Giardiasis and Cryptosporidiosis - Recent Literature with a Focus on Nitazoxanide

Abstract

Nitazoxanide is a Food and Drug Administration approved Thiazolide to treat parasitic infections such as giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis. Since nitazoxanide is available as a liquid suspension, this medication is uniquely suited for the treatment of children. However, there has been a paucity of published studies since its approval. We completed a systematic literature search using a variety of sources including PubMed to identify studies reporting the impact of nitazoxanide in treating parasitic infections in children ages 1 to 11 years. A similar search was conducted on other available treatment for parasitic infection. In total, 28 publications were found to meet the criteria above for nitazoxanide. A similar number of papers were identified to address other therapy commonly used regardless of product information on approved use. Despite the ease of administration and superiority of nitazoxanide to other Non FDA approved therapies for the treatment of Giardia or Cryptosporidium among children, this medication continues to be underutilized. These data indicated the need for additional clinical studies to raise awareness.

Therapeutic efficacy of proton pump inhibitor (omeprazole) on cryptosporidiosis parvum in immunosuppressed experimental mice

“…The disease has an incubation period of 2-10 days, then it is usually presented either as self-limited gastroenteritis in immunocompetent humans or prolonged chronic illness in immunocompromised patients. Symptoms include watery diarrhea with abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting; however, non-speci c symptoms such as headaches, myalgia, fatigue, and low-grade fever might occur (Blanchard et al 2015). In severe immunocompromised cases, extraintestinal manifestations involving the biliary tract, pancreas, joints, and respiratory system were also reported (López-Vélez 1995).…”