Incidence of cryptosporidiosis species in paediatric patients in Malawi

Abstract

We determined the incidence of cryptosporidiosis in children aged <5 years presenting with diarrhoea in an urban and rural hospital-based setting in Malawi. Stools were collected over a 22-month period during both rainy and dry seasons. A range of microscopic methods were used to determine the presence of Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts. Species determination was by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) of oocyst-extracted DNA using 18S rRNA and COWP gene loci. Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts were seen in 5.9% (50/848) of samples, of which 43 amplified by PCR-RFLP indicated the following species: C. hominis, C. parvum, C. hominis/C. parvum, C. meleagridis and C. andersoni. Seven samples could not be amplified by PCR. Wider species diversity was found in the rural setting, and may be a result of increased malnutrition and zoonotic exposure in this area. Improvements in water, sanitation, household hygiene and animal control are required to reduce the incidence of infection in this population.

Low sensitivity of the ImmunocardSTAT® Crypto/Giardia Rapid Assay test for the detection of Giardia and Cryptosporidium in fecal samples from children living in Libreville, Central Africa

“…oocysts in their stools was found to be 11.0 %, a surprisingly high rate given the lack of symptoms in these individuals. This rate is comparable to the prevalence observed in diarrheic individuals which vary from 3 to 10 % according to HIV prevalence (Wumba et al 2012;Gatei et al 2006;Morse et al 2007). The existence of this reservoir therefore constitutes a potential risk for the infection of malnourished and immunocompromised individuals.…”

“…This species is a strictly human parasite and PlaineOrety is a district of Libreville in which the human population rarely comes into contact with the C. parvum parasite non human reservoir. Moreover, in tropical areas, most surveys on the general population, and even on patients with diarrhea, have shown that C. hominis predominates (Wumba et al 2012;Gatei et al 2006;Morse et al 2007;Walker al. 2010).…”

Genetic characterization of Cryptosporidium in animal and human isolates from Jordan

“…C. andersoni is a gastric parasite which has been associated with reduced milk yield in dairy cattle and decreased weight gain in post weaned calves (Olson et al 2004) and is occasionally detected in humans (Leoni et al, 2006;Morse et al, 2007;Waldron et al, 2011;Agholi et al, 2013;Jiang et al, 2014;Liu et al, 2014). Two studies in China by the same research group have reported that C. andersoni was the most prevalent Cryptosporidium species detected in humans Liu et al, 2014).…”

HIV/AIDS-Associated Opportunistic Protozoal Diarrhea

“…Malawian child was also largely based on RFLP analysis, 29 which needs to be confirmed by DNA sequencing because DraI and AseI RFLP is mainly used in species differentiation and C. muris may also share the same pattern. Although the microscopic examination of feces still remains the mainstay of laboratory diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis, the results indicate that PCR is more effective than microscopic examination for the detection of coccidiosis.…”