Occurrence of Cryptosporidium sp infection in indviduals infected by HIV, sick or not, treated at the University Hospital, Botucatu School of Medicine - UNESP

THESIS

Occurrence of Cryptosporidium sp infection in indviduals infected by HIV, sick or not, treated at the University Hospital, Botucatu School of Medicine - UNESP

G. Langoni Junior

^{Correspondence}

THESIS: G. Langoni Junior submitted this thesis for his Doctorate in Tropical Diseases at Botucatu School of Medicine, São Paulo State University, UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil, 2004.

Advisor: Professor Lenice do Rosário de Souza

ABSTRACT

The objective of this work was to evaluate Cryptosporidium sp infection in HIV or AIDS patients treated at Botucatu University Hospital, Scholl of Medicine, UNESP – São Paulo. One hundred and five patients were evaluated and divided into groups by CD4+T lymphocyte count of more or less than 200 cells/mm³, and with or without potent antiretroviral treatment. Between July 2002 and September 2003, we examined two stool samples from each patient. These samples were fixed in 10% formalin and sent to the Tropical Diseases Laboratory. They underwent centrifugal sedimentation by formaldehyde-ether. Slides were stained with auramine and confirmed by Zihel-Neelsen modified technique. Occurrence of Cryptosporidium sp was 10.5%. There was no relation between sex, age, and diarrhea in the 11 cryptosporidiosis patients in this study. No positive stool sample patient lived in the rural area. The number of oocysts was small in all analyzed samples regardless of CD4+T lymphocyte count, HIV plasmatic viral load, and presence of diarrhea. This was also small in the only patient who had not received antiretroviral treatment. This may be justified by the general decrease of opportunistic infections, and specifically cryptosporidiosis, after starting potent antiretroviral therapy.

Key words:Cryptosporidium sp, AIDS.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  03 May 2005
• Date of issue
  Mar 2005