Detection of Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis in human patients in Cairo, Egypt

• Published in: Parasitology research (1987) Vol. 110; no. 1; pp. 161 - 166
• Main Authors: Abd El Kader, Nour M., Blanco, María-Alejandra, Ali-Tammam, Marwa, Abd El Ghaffar, Abd El Rahman B., Osman, Ahmed, El Sheikh, Nabila, Rubio, José Miguel, de Fuentes, Isabel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 2012; Springer
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Causes of; Child; Child, Preschool; Cryptosporidiosis - epidemiology; Cryptosporidiosis - parasitology; Cryptosporidium; Cryptosporidium - classification; Cryptosporidium - genetics; Cryptosporidium - isolation & purification; Diarrhea; DNA, Protozoan - genetics; Egypt - epidemiology; Feces - parasitology; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; General aspects and techniques. Study of several systematic groups. Models; Genotype; Health aspects; Host-parasite relationships; Humans; Immunology; Infant; Invertebrates; Male; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Molecular Epidemiology; Original Paper; Physiological aspects; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Prevalence; Young Adult; Africa; Egypt; Cryptosporidiosis; Cryptosporidium Parvum; Cryptosporidium Species; Mixed Infection; Cryptosporidium Infection; Human; Parasite; Protozoa; Apicomplexa; Cryptosporidium parvum; Detection
• ISSN: 0932-0113; 1432-1955
• DOI: 10.1007/s00436-011-2465-6

Cryptosporidium
is a significant cause of diarrheal disease in developing and industrialized nations.
Cryptosporidium hominis
and
Cryptosporidium parvum
are the main agents of cryptosporidiosis in humans. In Egypt, very little is known about genetic structure of
Cryptosporidium
spp. Therefore, this study was designed to examine samples from sporadic cases of cryptosporidiosis in Egyptians in order to identify the species involved in infection as well as the transmission dynamics and distribution of the parasite in the Great Cairo area. A total of 391 human faecal samples were collected, between May 2008 and March 2009, from ten public hospitals in Great Cairo. Initial screening by immunochromatographic detection kit “the Stick Crypto-Giardia; Operon” showed 23 possible positive cases. Twenty of them were confirmed by microscopic examination. PCR was performed by amplification of the oocyst wall protein (COWP) gene where 18 out of 23 samples were positive, one not detected by microscopy.
Cryptosporidium
genotyping was performed by RFLP analysis of PCR products of the diagnosis PCR. Only 15 samples rendered a digestion pattern. The genotyping distribution was nine cases showing
C. hominis
genotype, three showing
C. parvum
genotype and three showing mixed infection by
C. hominis
and
C. parvum
. The data showed an elevated prevalence of
C. hominis
(80.0%), the most anthroponotic species, suggesting a human–human transmission. Furthermore, the presence of up to 40% of samples infected with
C. parvum
shows that further investigations are required to determine the subgenotypes of C
. parvum
to clarify the mode of transmission in order to improve the control measures.