Cryptosporidiosis in HIV-seronegative patients: A case series

Abstract

Enteric infections by are a frequent cause of diarrhea among immunocompromised and HIV infected patients but there are limited reports of their occurrence in immunocompetent patients. Cryptosporidiosis is a faeco-orally transmitted protozoan infection and is one of the leading causes of chronic parasitic diarrhea. Here we report a case series of cryptosporidiosis from three different patients where two patients are immunocompetent and one is a post renal transplant case. All the patients came with watery diarrhea for which stool samples were collected and examined by modified Ziehl Neelsen acid fast staining (Kinyoun’s method). On microscopic examination of smear, multiple, pink, round to oval acid fast oocysts of 4-6µm diameter were seen against a blue background morphologically resembling . Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of antiparasitic drugs aids in timely treatment and prevention of disseminated cryptosporidiosis.