Seven years' experience with Cryptosporidium parvum in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa

In community-based studies conducted from 1991 to 1997 in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, stool specimens from children aged less then 5 years with diarrhoea were routinely examined for enteric parasites. Cryptosporidium parvum, found in 7.7% of 4,922 samples, was the second most common parasite, exceed...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of tropical paediatrics 2001-12, Vol.21 (4), p.313-318
Main Authors: Perch, Michael, Sodemann, Morten, Jakobsen, Marianne S., Valentiner-Branth, Palle, Steinsland, Hans, Fischer, Thea K., Lopes, Dina Duarte, Aaby, Peter, Mølbak, Kåre
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Child, Preschool
Confidence Intervals
Cryptosporidiosis
Cryptosporidiosis - epidemiology
Cryptosporidium parvum
Diarrhea - epidemiology
Diarrhea - parasitology
Entamoeba histolytica - isolation & purification
Entamoebiasis - epidemiology
Female
Giardia lamblia - isolation & purification
Giardiasis - epidemiology
Guinea-Bissau - epidemiology
Human protozoal diseases
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Parasitic diseases
Prevalence
Protozoal diseases
Seasons
Sex Factors
Tropical medicine
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Summary:In community-based studies conducted from 1991 to 1997 in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, stool specimens from children aged less then 5 years with diarrhoea were routinely examined for enteric parasites. Cryptosporidium parvum, found in 7.7% of 4,922 samples, was the second most common parasite, exceeded only by Giardia lamblia which was found in 14.8% of the samples. The highest prevalence of cryptosporidium was found in children aged 6-11 months, whereas the prevalence of other enteric parasites increased with age. Cryptosporidiosis showed a marked seasonal variation, with peak prevalences found consistently at the beginning of or just before the rainy seasons, May through July. By contrast, no seasonality was found for the enteric parasites Giardia lamblia or Entamoeba histolytica. We conclude that Cryptosporidium parvum is an important pathogen in children with diarrhoea.
ISSN:0272-4936
2046-9047
1465-3281
2046-9055
DOI:10.1080/07430170120093490