1. Cryptosporidium parvum
Maureen Ndambuki
Veranja Liyanarachchi
Evalyne Njeri

2. CLASSIFICATION Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Chromalveota
Superphylum: Alveolata
Phylum: Apicomplexa
Class: conoidasida
Subclass: Coccidiasina
Order: Eucoccidiarida
Suborder: Eimeriorina
Family: Cryptosporidiiae
Genus: Cryptosporidium
Species C. parvum

3. HOSTS
Definitive hosts: Not host specific but able to infect mammals e.g. humans
Intermediate: None
Reservoir: calves, sheep, fish, birds, turkeys

4. Cryptosporidium parvum
Protozoan parasite of phylum apicomplexa
Apicomplexans are a large group of eukaryotic organisms that are unicellular spore forming parasites of humans
Small cocci (2μm-6μm)
Opportunistic parasite
Zoonotic-found in many mammalian species including cows, birds, reptiles, fishes and also humans
Causes acute short term infection in humans
Affects the hosts gastrointestinal and respiratory epithelial cells

5. Epidemiology Infection occurs through fecal oral contamination.
Human-human
Animal-human
waterborne
Causes Cryptosporodiasis which is watery diarrhea

6. Morphological forms Oocysts=infective stage
Sporozoites= infective and diagnostic
-each contains one nucleus
3. Trophozoite
4. Type 1 meront
5. Type II meront
6. Microgamont
7. Macrogamont

7. Oocysts 4μ-5μ microns wide One oocyst contains 4 fusiform sporozoites
Infective for 2-6 months in the enviroment
Are released with fecal matter during onset of the symptoms
They are shed 5 days after infection
Incubation period is between days

9. Clinical symptoms Can be asymptomatic thus go undetected
Watery diarrhea
Abdominal cramps
Nausea
Low grade fever
Dehydration
Weight loss

10. Target group Healthy individuals Young children
Immunocompromised e.g. Aids and HIV

11. Drinking dirty water leads to

12. Complications Severe dehydration leading to death Pancreatitis
Hypertrophic gastritis
Respiratory tract infections (AIDS patients)

13. Geographic prevalence
This parasite is found worldwide mostly in warm climates
First human case was reported in 1976
1993, waterborne outbreak in Milwaukee that affected more than 400,000 people who died in 2 weeks due to contamination of water treatment plants
-inside-me-cryptosporidium-outbreak.html

14. Geographic distribution

15. Diagnosis Oocysts found in fecal sample
This is done through floatation in formalin- ethyl acetate and hypertonic sodium chloride followed by ziehl-Neelson staining method
cryptosporidium sp. oocysts stained with Ziehl-Neelson modified acid-fast. Right: Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts stained with safranin

16. Pathogenesis In AIDS patients
Profuse watery diarrhea lasting several months with 6-25 bowel movements per day
Severe dehydration which could lead to death
In other immunocompromised/immunocompetent patients
infection is less severe.
some have no symptoms while others have less frequent diarrhea and abdominal cramps lasting 1-10days

17. Treatment
Healthy people with strong immune system recover without treatment
Nitazoxamide-most effective
paromomycin
Drinking plenty of fluids
Fluid therapy for babies
Anti-retroviral therapy for Aids patients
Anti-motility drugs
Adding electrolytes to body e.g. drinking getorade

18. Control Water filtration and purification Boiling water
Washing vegetables and fruits
Bottled water for travellers
Water inspection/analysis
Wash hands after using the bathroom or handling fecal material
Iodized water
Avoiding sexual practices that involve fecal oral contact

19. Review Questions 1. What are the two morphological forms?
2. What are the three modes of transmission for cryptosporidium?
3. How does cryptosporidium enter the body?
4. Name the definitive and intermediate host
5. What are the symptoms of the disease?