Cryptosporidiosis among medical patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in Tikur Anbessa Teaching Hospital, Ethiopia.

Fresh stool specimens, collected at random from 63 medical in-patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), were studied prospectively for Cryptosporidium oocyst. The diagnosis of AIDS was made according to the clinical case definition of the Bangui criteria. These patients presented with profuse watery diarrhoea, significant weight loss and other associated symptoms and signs of clinical manifestations of symptomatic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Using the modified Kinyoun acid fast staining technique, 25(39.7%) of the stool specimens were positive for Cryptosporidium oocyst. This study showed that the protozoan, Cryptosporidium parvum, may be responsible for a significant proportion of cases of chronic diarrhoea among AIDS patients in Ethiopia.