[Cryptosporidium sp in diarrheic feces of immunocompetent patients]

During a 2 year period, 423 diarrheic fecal samples from immunocompetent patients, older than 14 years and assisted at the Hospital Nacional de Clínicas de Córdoba, were screened for Cryptosporidium oocysts. Feces were examined with saline and iodine wet mounts, enriched by the formol-ether method and stained by the modified Kinyoun acid-fast method. Furthermore, leucocytes and erythrocytes per HPF (400 x) were counted. Sixty nine (16.31%) diarrheic stools showed enteroparasites. Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in 7 (1.65%) patients, second after Giardia intestinalis. Diarrhoea was moderated in 6 patients and severe in the remaining one. Leucocytes were increased only in one case, belonging to a patient with moderate diarrhoea.