Seven years' experience with Cryptosporidium parvum in Guinea-Bissau, WestAfrica

In community-based studies conducted from 1991 to 1997 in Guinea-Bissau, We st Africa, stool specimens from children aged less then 5 years with diarrh oea were routinely examined for enteric parasites. Cryptosporidium parvum, found in 7.7% of 4,922 samples, was the second most common parasite, exceed ed only by Giardia lamblia which was found in 14.8% of the samples. The hig hest prevalence of cryptosporidium was found in children aged 6-11 months, whereas the prevalence of other enteric parasites increased with age. Crypt osporidiosis showed a marked seasonal variation, with peak prevalences foun d consistently at the beginning of or just before the rainy seasons, May th rough July. By contrast, no seasonality was found for the enteric parasites Giardia lamblia or Entamoeba histolytica. We conclude that Cryptosporidium parvum is an important pathogen in children with diarrhoea.