PREVALENCE OF CRYPTOSPORIDIOSIS IN AIDS PATIENTS WITH DIARRHEA IN SANTA-MARIA-HOSPITAL, LISBON

Citation
O. Matos et al., PREVALENCE OF CRYPTOSPORIDIOSIS IN AIDS PATIENTS WITH DIARRHEA IN SANTA-MARIA-HOSPITAL, LISBON, Folia parasitologica, 45(2), 1998, pp. 163-166
Citations number
22
Categorie Soggetti
Parasitiology
Journal title
ISSN journal
00155683
Volume
45
Issue
2
Year of publication
1998
Pages
163 - 166
Database
ISI
SICI code
0015-5683(1998)45:2<163:POCIAP>2.0.ZU;2-L
Abstract
We report the findings of a longitudinal observational study on HIV-in fected patients grouped by presumed transmission group, who had diarrh oea. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of and fac tors associated with Cryptosporidium infection on these patients. Modi fied formol-ether concentration followed by modified Ziehl-Neelsen and phenol-auramine/carbol-fuchsin staining techniques were used to ident ify, Cryptosporidium from 465 patients. Cryptosporidiosis was reported in 36/465 (8% and 95% confidence interval 6, 10) patients. Of the pos itive patients 30 (83%) were men and 6 (17%) women. Prevalence of infe ction was higher among HIV-seropositive patients whose exposure catego ry was through sexual contact (69%) than among patients in other HIV e xposure categories (9%, Standard Z test, P < 0.001). Median CD4+ cell count/mm(3) was 120 (range 3-600). Besides diarrhoea, the main clinica l manifestations were fever and weight loss in 14 (39%) and 26 (72%) p atients, respectively. Cryptosporidium infection was considered to be the first AIDS defining disease in 31% of the patients followed by tub erculosis in 19%, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in 14%, Salmonella se psis in 6%, isosporiasis in 3%, toxoplasmic encephalitis in 3%, leishm aniasis in 3% and Kaposi's sarcoma in 3% of the patients. There was no significant difference (P = 0.82) in survival times for those given f olate antagonists to treat other opportunistic infections. The decreas e in prevalence of cryptosporidiosis observed from 1994 until May 1997 is not statistically significant (P = 0.11). Most cases of cryptospor idial infection in AIDS patients in Lisbon occurred in those whose HIV infection was assumed to have been acquired by the sexual route (hete ro-, homo- and bisexual), with few cases occurring in drug-abusers.