The Investigation Of Cryptosporidium Spp. In Patients With Diarrhea By Microscopic And Elisa Methods

Cryptosporidium spp. has still an important place among parasites which are the main reason of diarrhea both developing and developed countries. It is an obligate intracellular protozoan that may lead fatal diarrhea in immune-suppressed persons. In this study, our aim was to investigate the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts as an agent in pre-diagnosed patients with chronic and acute diarrhea by using both Modified Acid Fast Staining and ELISA methods. For our study, 86 diarrheal stool samples were collected which were sent from Ataturk University Medical Faculty Research and Application Hospital Clinics to Microbiology Laboratory between December 2013 and May 2014. At the same day, Modified Acid Fast Staining method was performed to stool samples and examined under the microscope (with 100X magnification). A small pieces of feces were placed in eppendorf tubes without adding any preservatives and stored at -200 C. After a while, ELISA method was performed to these stored samples for detecting Cryptosporidium antigens. Kit was performed as recommended by the manufacturer and the results was evaluated with ELISA reader at 450 nm. A total 6 of samples by Modified Acid Fast Staining and 8 samples by ELISA were detected as positive in stool samples of 86 patient (43 female and 43 male) having age range of 0-83 years. Four (50%) positive samples, which were detected by ELISA, were belong to either female or male patients. For Modified Acid Fast Staining, 2 (33.3%) of positive samples were belong to male patients, 4 (66.7%) of positive samples were belong to female patients. As a consequent; although ELISA method is costly than staining method, we suggest that ELISA method should be preferred for Cryptosporidium diagnosis because of the advantages including quick results and ease of application.