High prevalence of Cryptosporidium in young children with prolonged diarrhea.

A prospective study was done to identify Cryptosporidium in the stools of young children, aged 2 months to 3 years, admitted to hospital. Of a total of 387 stool samples from 387 individuals, 131 stool specimens forming the control group were from children with non-diarrheal, respiratory tract infections, 200 and 56 stool samples were from children with acute diarrhea and prolonged diarrhea, respectively. No Cryptosporidium was discovered in the control group. Only 1 sample positive for Cryptosporidium was found in the group with acute diarrhea, whereas 4 samples of Cryptosporidium were found in the group with prolonged diarrhea. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium in the group with prolonged diarrhea was significantly higher than the other two groups (p < 0.05). In those children with prolonged diarrhea, Cryptosporidium should always be included in the differential diagnosis.