Gastro-enteritis due to Cryptosporidium: a prospective survey in a children's hospital

During a 10 months' survey of children with gastro-enteritis, 27 cases of cryptosporidiosis (1.4% of those tested) were found. Only one patient was infected with another potential enteropathogen. In most cases the faeces were described as green, watery and offensive. Clinical features also included anorexia, vomiting and abdominal pain. The diarrhoea was moderate to severe in 15 cases and resulted in dehydration in 9 patients of whom two were more than 5% dehydrated. The diarrhoea was prolonged and persisted on average for 13 days. Excretion of oocysts did not stop with cessation of diarrhoea but continued for a further 11 days. Human beings appeared to be as important a source for Cryptosporidium as animals and it seemed possible that patients were infective throughout the period that they were excreting oocysts.