CRYPTOSPORIDIUM-PARVUM - INTENSITY OF INFECTION AND OOCYST EXCRETION PATTERNS IN HEALTHY-VOLUNTEERS

Data about human Cryptosporidium parvum infection have originated from travelers, community and day care center outbreaks, and persons infec ted with the human immunodeficiency virus, In addition, experimental i nfection in 29 antibody-negative, healthy, adult volunteers generated information on the dose-infection response of C. parvum (Iowa strain), In that report, low inocula were sufficient to cause infection in 18 and illness in 7 persons, To further define the duration and intensity of infection in this population, oocyst shedding patterns were invest igated in the 18 subjects infected with C. parvum. Oocyst quantitation revealed that volunteers with diarrheal illness (n = 7) excreted more oocysts over the course of the infection than did volunteers without diarrhea (n = 11; P < .05). Symptomatic subjects were more likely to s hed oocysts on consecutive days, Further, a statistical nonsignificant inverse trend (r(2) = .330, P = .136) was seen between challenge dose and total excreted oocysts, This paradox may relate to receptor satur ation or a toxic effect on cells, parasites, or both afforded by a hig h inoculum.