PARASITIC INFECTIONS OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL-TRACT

The problem of Cryptosporidium infection as a public health threat is being increasingly recognized, Cyclospora cayentensis is a newly recog nized protozoal parasite that causes prolonged watery diarrhea, An inc reased effort should be made to diagnose infections with these two org anisms to facilitate earlier detection of outbreaks of infection withi n the community, and because an effective treatment for Cyclospora inf ections is available. The role of microscopy in diagnosing protozoan i nfections has been questioned, particularly in light of recent evidenc e that pathogenic Entamoeba histolytica and nonpathogenic Entamoeba di spar organisms are morphologically indistinguishable, One potentially promising area is the adaptation of vaccine strategies for inducing mu cosal immune responses to the delivery of recombinant schistosome and amebic antigens.