Cryptosporidium diagnosis in different groups of children and characterization of parasite species

Flávia Thamiris Figueiredo Pacheco; Humberto Fonseca de Freitas; Renata Kelly Novais Rodrigues Silva; Silvia Souza de Carvalho; Adson Santos Martins; Joelma Figueiredo Menezes; Tereza Cristina Medrado Ribeiro; Ângela Peixoto de Mattos; Hugo da Costa-Ribeiro Júnior; Joice Neves Reis Pedreira; Neci Matos Soares; Márcia Cristina Aquino Teixeira

doi:10.1590/0037-8682-0041-2022

Cryptosporidium diagnosis in different groups of children and characterization of parasite species

Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2022 Jul 25:55:e00412022. doi: 10.1590/0037-8682-0041-2022. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Flávia Thamiris Figueiredo Pacheco^{1

2}, Humberto Fonseca de Freitas¹, Renata Kelly Novais Rodrigues Silva^{1

2}, Silvia Souza de Carvalho¹, Adson Santos Martins¹, Joelma Figueiredo Menezes³, Tereza Cristina Medrado Ribeiro², Ângela Peixoto de Mattos², Hugo da Costa-Ribeiro Júnior², Joice Neves Reis Pedreira^{1

3}, Neci Matos Soares^{1

3}, Márcia Cristina Aquino Teixeira^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Universidade Federal da Bahia, Programa de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu em Farmácia, Salvador, BA, Brasil.
² Universidade Federal da Bahia, Hospital Professor Edgard Santos, Salvador, BA, Brasil.
³ Universidade Federal da Bahia, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Salvador, BA, Brasil.

Abstract

Background: Microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) are routinely used for Cryptosporidium diagnosis, without differentiating the parasite species.

Methods: Children's feces were analyzed by modiﬁed Ziehl-Neelsen (mZN) and ELISA for Cryptosporidium diagnosis and by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism for species identification.

Results: Cryptosporidium frequency was 2.6%. The sensitivity and specificity of ELISA were 85.7% and 99.7%, respectively, with excellent concordance with mZN (kappa=0.854). Parasite species were characterized as Cryptosporidium hominis (78.3%), Cryptosporidium felis (17.4%), and Cryptosporidium parvum (4.3%).

Conclusions: Coproantigen ELISA is as efficient as mZN for Cryptosporidium diagnosis. Cryptosporidium genotyping suggests anthroponotic and zoonotic transmission to children.

MeSH terms

Child
Cryptosporidiosis* / diagnosis
Cryptosporidiosis* / parasitology
Cryptosporidium parvum* / isolation & purification
Cryptosporidium* / classification
Cryptosporidium* / isolation & purification
Feces / parasitology
Humans
Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length