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Cyclosporidia: A General Review

Himy1, Villard, Kremer

  • 1Laboratoire de Parasitologie et Pathologie Tropicale, Faculté de Médecine, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France.

Insights

Two French patients experienced persistent diarrhea after travel to India and Nepal, with their stool samples revealing cyanobacterium-like bodies (CLB), also known as cyclosporidia. This finding highlights a new potential cause of traveler

Area of Science:

  • Medical Parasitology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Persistent diarrheal syndrome can be caused by various infectious agents.
  • Travelers' diarrhea is a common ailment, often linked to contaminated food and water.
  • Emerging or less common pathogens require ongoing identification and characterization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To report the first identification of cyanobacterium-like bodies (CLB) in France.
  • To describe CLB in immunocompetent patients presenting with persistent diarrhea.
  • To review current knowledge on this emerging microorganism, also known as cyclosporidia.

Main Methods:

  • Stool sample analysis from two patients with persistent diarrhea.
  • Clinical case reporting and patient history collection, including recent travel.
  • Literature review of existing data on cyanobacterium-like bodies/cyclosporidia.

Main Results:

  • Identification of cyanobacterium-like bodies (CLB) in the fecal samples of two patients.
  • Patients presented with persistent diarrheal syndrome following travel to India and Nepal.
  • The patients were immunocompetent, indicating CLB can affect individuals without compromised immune systems.

Conclusions:

  • Cyanobacterium-like bodies (CLB) / cyclosporidia are identified for the first time in France.
  • CLB should be considered in the differential diagnosis of persistent diarrhea in travelers returning from endemic regions.
  • Further research is needed to understand the pathogenicity and transmission of CLB.

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