CRYPTOSPORIDIA-ASSOCIATED GASTROENTERITIS - EPIDEMIOLOGIC INVESTIGATION IN CHILDREN FROM TYROL AND VORARLBERG

Stool samples from 523 children aged between 3 months and 6 years were examined for Cryptosporidium parvum by means of the direct immunofluo rescence technique in March 1996. The specimens were sent to the Feder al Public Health Laboratory in Innsbruck from general practitioners an d pediatricians and from hospitals in Tyrol and Vorarlberg. The study was performed during the cold season in an area that does not employ s urface water for the production of drinking water. Oocysts of cryptosp oridia were detected as the sole agent in 4 out of 294 samples (1.4%) taken from children suffering from diarrheal disease, as well as in 1 out of 229 samples (0.4%) of children in the control group. Duration o f diarrheal disease varied from 2 days to 4 weeks. in addition, a 75 s tool samples from Tyrolean calves were examined for cryptosporidia dia . Oocysts were detected in 3 out of 75 stool samples (4.0%). Routine e xaminations for Cryptosporidium parvum in stool specimens of immunocom petent children with diarrhea do not seem to be necessary in Western A ustria during the cold season due to the self-limiting course of the i nfection.