This article is about the protozoan. For the disease, see Cryptosporidiosis.
Do not confuse Cryptosporidium (protists) with Cryptococcus (fungi).
Not to be confused with cryptocurrency, also known as crypto.
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Cryptosporidium, sometimes called crypto, is an apicomplexan genus of alveolates which are parasites that can cause a respiratory and gastrointestinal illness (cryptosporidiosis) that primarily involves watery diarrhea (intestinal cryptosporidiosis), sometimes with a persistent cough (respiratory cryptosporidiosis).[1][2]
Treatment of gastrointestinal infection in humans involves fluid rehydration, electrolyte replacement, and management of any pain. For cryptosporidiosis, supportive treatment and symptom management are the primary treatments for immunocompetent individuals.[3] Anti-diarrheal medication, such as Loperamide, may be effective in slowing the rate of diarrhea. Nitazoxanide is the only drug approved for the treatment of cryptosporidiosis in immunocompetent persons.[4] Supplemental zinc may improve symptoms,[5] particularly in recurrent or persistent infections or in others at risk for zinc deficiency. Cryptosporidium oocysts are 4–6 μm in diameter and exhibit partial acid-fast staining. They must be differentiated from other partially acid-fast organisms including Cyclospora cayetanensis.
General characteristics
Cryptosporidium causes cryptosporidiosis, an infection that may present as a diarrhea, sometimes with a persistent cough in immunocompetent hosts.[clarification needed][1] Other apicomplexan pathogens of humans include the malaria parasite Plasmodium and the toxoplasmosis parasite Toxoplasma. Unlike Plasmodium, which transmits via a mosquito disease vector, and Toxoplasma which needs a feline as definitive host,[6]Cryptosporidium does not use a vector, and is capable of completing its lifecycle within a single host. It results in cyst stages that are excreted in feces or through inhalation of coughed on fomites and are capable of transmission to a new host.[1][7][8]
Cryptosporidiosis is typically an acute, short-term infection, but can recur through reinfection in immunocompetent hosts, or become severe or life-threatening in immunocompromised individuals. In humans, it remains in the lower intestine and may remain for up to five weeks.[7] The parasite is transmitted by environmentally hardy cysts (oocysts) that, once ingested, exist in the small intestine and result in an infection of intestinal epithelial tissue.[7] Transmission by ingestion or inhalation of coughed-on fomites is a second, less likely route of infection.[1]
The genome of C. parvum, sequenced in 2004, was found to be unusual amongst eukaryotes in that the mitochondria seem not to contain DNA.[9] A closely related species, C. hominis, also has its genome sequence available.[10]
Many treatment plants that take raw water from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs for public drinking water production use conventional filtration technologies. Direct filtration, which is typically used to treat water with low particulate levels, includes coagulation and filtration but not sedimentation. Other common filtration processes including slow sand filters, diatomaceous earth filters, and membranes will remove 99% of Cryptosporidium.[14] Membranes and bag- and cartridge-filter products remove Cryptosporidium specifically.
Cryptosporidium is highly resistant to chlorine disinfection;[15] but with high enough concentrations and contact time, Cryptosporidium inactivation will occur with chlorine dioxide and ozone treatment. In general, the required levels of chlorine preclude the use of chlorine disinfection as a reliable method to control Cryptosporidium in drinking water. Ultraviolet light treatment at relatively low doses will inactivate Cryptosporidium.[16][17]
One of the largest challenges in identifying outbreaks is the ability to verify the results in a laboratory. The oocytes may be seen by microscopic examination of a stool sample, but they may be confused with other objects or artifacts similar in appearance.[18] Most cryptosporidia are 3–6 μm in size, although some reports have described larger cells.[18]
Boiling is believed to be the safest option for water contaminated by Cryptosporidium.[19][20][21]
Epidemiology
Exposure risks
People who swim regularly in pools with insufficient sanitation (certain strains of Cryptosporidium are chlorine-resistant)
Child-care workers
Parents of infected children
People caring for other people with cryptosporidiosis
Backpackers, hikers, and campers who drink unfiltered, untreated water
People who visit petting farms and open farms with public access[22]
People, including swimmers, who swallow water from contaminated sources
People handling infected cattle
People exposed to human feces
People who turn compost that has not gone through its phase where temperatures over 50 °C are reached[23]
Dealing with stabilized compost - i.e. composting material that has gone through the phases where micro-organisms are digesting the organic matter and the temperature inside the composting pile has reached temperature up to 50–70 °C – poses very little risk as these temperatures kill pathogens and even make oocysts unviable.[23]
Like many fecal-oral pathogens, the disease can also be transmitted by contaminated food, poor hygiene or turning compost in a local compost site. Testing of water, as well as epidemiological study, are necessary to determine the sources of specific infections. Cryptosporidium typically does not cause serious illness in healthy people. It may chronically sicken some children, as well as adults exposed and immunocompromised.
^ abcdSponseller JK, Griffiths JK, Tzipori S (July 2014). "The evolution of respiratory Cryptosporidiosis: evidence for transmission by inhalation". Clinical Microbiology Reviews. 27 (3): 575–86. doi:10.1128/CMR.00115-13. PMC4135895. PMID24982322. Recent evidence indicates that respiratory cryptosporidiosis may occur commonly in immunocompetent children with cryptosporidial diarrhea and unexplained cough. Findings from animal models, human case reports, and a few epidemiological studies suggest that Cryptosporidium may be transmitted via respiratory secretions, in addition to the more recognized fecal-oral route. ... Upper respiratory cryptosporidiosis may cause inflammation of the nasal mucosa, sinuses, larynx, and trachea, accompanied by nasal discharge and voice change (54, 61, 62). Cryptosporidiosis of the lower respiratory tract typically results in productive cough, dyspnea, fever, and hypoxemia (63,–66). ... While fecal-oral transmission is indisputably the major route of infection, transmission via coughing and fomites is also possible in situations of close contact (20). ... Because they lacked gastrointestinal symptoms and oocyst excretion, the latter cases establish the possibility of primary respiratory infection with Cryptosporidium, which may have been acquired by inhalation of expectorated droplets or by contact with fomites. ... This finding suggests that respiratory cryptosporidiosis may occur commonly in immunocompetent individuals.
^Cabada MM, White AC, Venugopalan P, Sureshbabu J (18 August 2015). Bronze MS (ed.). "Cryptosporidiosis Treatment & Management". Medscape. WebMD. Retrieved 8 January 2016. Infection may improve with nutritional supplementation, particularly with regimens including zinc or glutamine. ... Nitazoxanide significantly shortens the duration of diarrhea and can decrease the risk of mortality in malnourished children.[22] Trials have also demonstrated efficacy in adults.[26, 27] ... Symptomatic therapy includes replacement of fluids, provision of appropriate nutrition, and treatment with antimotility agents. ... Replacement of fluids and electrolytes is the critically important first step in the management of cryptosporidiosis, particularly in patients with large diarrheal losses. Fluids should include sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, and glucose.
^Bolton, JR, Dussert, B, Bukhari, Z, Hargy, TM, Clancy, JL (1998). "Inactivation of Cryptosporidium parvum by Medium-Pressure Ultraviolet Light in Finished Drinking Water". Proc. AWWA 1998 Annual Conference, Dallas, TX. A: 389–403.
^Bukhari Z, Hargy TM, Bolton JR, Dussert B, Clancy JL (1999). "Medium Pressure UV Light for Oocyst Inactivation". Journal of the American Water Works Association. 91 (3): 86–94. doi:10.1002/j.1551-8833.1999.tb08602.x. S2CID87880510.
Brands SJ (2000). "The Taxonomicon & Systema Naturae". Taxon: Genus Cryptosporidium. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2006.
