Investigation of the Frequency of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia intestinalis in Patients with Suppressed Immune System

Abstract

Objective: Giardia intestinalis and Cryptosporidium spp. are important agents causing diarrhea in developing and developed countries. If untreated, these agents may cause severe life-threatening diarrhea, especially in immunocompromised people and children. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of Cryptosporidium spp. and G. intestinalis in the stool samples of immunocompromised patients who applied to Harran University Research and Application Hospital. Methods: This study was carried out with a total of 100 patients with immunosuppression and diarrhea who were admitted to our hospital between January 2017 and January 2019. Cryptosporidium spp. and G. intestinalis antigens were investigated in stool samples of the patients by immunochromatographic (IC) method and oocyst, and cyst-trophozoite were examined with Native-Lugol and Kinyoun acid-fast staining. Results: G. intestinalis was detected in eight (8%) patients. Seven of them (14%) were pediatric patients (n=50) and one (2%) was an adult female patient (n=50). Cryptosporidium spp. was detected in 3 (3%) patients. Of these, two (4%) were children patients and one (2%) was an adult female patient. Our results also demonstrated that both Cryptosporidium and Giardia were more found in immunocompromised patients, especially in pediatric ones (4% and 14% respectively). Conclusion: Although the cost of the IC method, which detects antigens in stool samples is high, it is easy to work with, provides early results and it also helps to overcome the difficulties in active diagnostic methods. Despite the limited number of investigated samples, our findings showed that the incidence of infections from these two parasites is higher than in other studies conducted in Turkey or European countries.