Cryptosporidiosis in children in Malawi

Cryptosporidium accounted for 9 (4.3 percent) of cases of gastroenteritis among 208 children with diarrhea attending an Under Five out-patient clinic at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital; but was not excreted by 96 children without diarrhea. It was second only to rotavirus (41.7 percent of cases) in causing gastroenteritis. Breast feeding apparently did not provide complete protection against cryptosporidiosis. In a prospective survey the safarin methylene blue and flourescent auramine phenol staining techniques had the same sensitivity (85 percent) and specificity (100 percent)