Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
At the present time, no safe and effective cure for cryptosporidiosis exists.
People with normal immune systems improve without taking antibiotics or
antiparasitic medications. The treatment recommended for this diarrheal ill-
ness is to drink plenty of fluids and to get extra rest. Physicians may pre-
scribe medication to slow the diarrhea during recovery.
The best way to prevent cryptosporidiosis is to
• Avoid water or food that may be contaminated.
• Wash hands after using the toilet and before handling food.
• If you work in a childcare center where you change diapers, be sure
to wash your hands thoroughly with plenty of soap and warm water
after every diaper change, even if you wear gloves.
During communitywide outbreaks caused by contaminated drinking water,
drinking water practitioners should inform the public to boil drinking water
for 1 minute to kill the
Cryptosporidium
parasite.
Cyclospora
Cyclospora
organisms, which until recently were considered blue-green
algae, were discovered at the turn of the century. The first human cases of
Cyclospora
infection were reported in the 1970s. In the early 1980s,
Cyclospora
was recognized as a pathogen in patients with AIDS. We now know that
Cyclospora
is endemic in many parts of the world and appears to be an impor-
tant cause of traveler's diarrhea.
Cyclospora
are two to three times larger than
Cryptosporidium
, but otherwise have similar features.
Cyclospora
diarrheal ill-
ness in patients with healthy immune systems can be cured with a week of
therapy with timethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX).
Huang et al. (1995) detailed what they believed was the first known out-
break of diarrheal illness associated with
Cyclospora
in the United States. The
outbreak, which occurred in 1990, consisted of 21 cases of illness among phy-
sicians and others working at a Chicago hospital. Contaminated tapwater
from a physicians' dormitory at the hospital was the probable source of the
organism. The tapwater probably picked up the organism while in a storage
tank at the top of the dormitory after the failure of a water pump.
Watery diarrhea, abdominal cramping, low-grade fever, and decreased
appetite are common features of the illness. The illness also is marked by
periods of remission and relapse that may continue for up to several weeks.
Microscopic examination of stool specimens from 11 infected people showed
many spherical bodies 8 to 10 µm in diameter that were identified as a
Cyclospora
species. The only other outbreaks associated with
Cyclospora
in
the literature have been seasonal outbreaks in Nepal. One outbreak in Nepal
was associated with chlorinated drinking water.
