ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the relationship between chronic severe hepatitis and cryptosporidium infection to provide evidences for scientific prevention and treatment of chronic severe hepatitis. Methods Fecal samples of 218 patients with chronic severe hepatitis B (CSHB) and 140 children with diarrhea were collected, and were examined for cryptosporidium oocytes by using auramine-phenol staining method (AA-p) and modified acid-fast staining method (MAF), and for cryptosporidium DNA by PCR and restriction digestion analysis. The factors affecting cryptosporidium infection of patients with CSHB were preliminarily analyzed. Results The positive rates of cryptosporidium infection detected by AA-p, MAF and PCR in the patients with CSHB and children with diarrhea were 4.1%, 3.2%, 6.0% and 0.7%, 0.7%, 1.4%, respectively. The positive rate of cryptosporidium infection detected by PCR in patients with CSHB was higher than that in children with diarrhea (P