Cryptosporidium and other parasites in Ethiopian AIDS patients with chronic diarrhoea

Previous studies in other African countries have shown high prevalences of Isospora belli and Cryptosporidium parvum infections in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients with chronic diarrhoea. However, there is lack of information regarding these infectious agents in Ethiopian AIDS patients. Thus, this investigation has been aimed at determining the prevalence of Cryptosporidium and other related gastrointestinal parasites in AIDS patients with diarrhoea in seven Addis Ababa hospitals. Stool specimens from 246 clinically diagnosed AIDS patients were parasitologically screened for parasitic infections constituting HIV-negative with diarrhoea and HIV-positive without diarrhoea control groups. A variety of intestinal protozoa and helminths were found in 50% of AIDS patients and 42% of the controls. Cryptosporidiosis was detected in 38(25.9%), Isosporiasis in two (1.4%), and Blastocystosis in one (0.7%) of the AIDS patients with diarrhoea. The occurrence of cryptosporidiosis among the AIDS patients and possible explanation of the increasingly high study subjects with diarrhoea but without identifiable parasites is discussed.