Genetic characterization of Cryptosporidium strains from 218 patients with diarrhea diagnosed as having sporadic cryptosporidiosis.

ABSTRACT: Samples of whole feces in which Cryptosporidium oocysts were recognized by hospital laboratories were collected from 218 patients with diarrhea. All samples were reexamined by light microscopy, and oocysts were detected in 211 samples. A simple and rapid procedure for the extraction of DNA from whole feces was developed, and this was used to amplify fragments of the Cryptosporidium outer wall protein (COWP), the thrombospondin-related adhesive protein C1 (TRAP-C1), and the 18S rRNA genes by PCR. For seven samples oocysts were not detected by microscopy and DNA failed to be amplified by the three PCR procedures. Among the 211 samples "positive" by microscopy, the sensitivities of PCRs for the 18S rRNA, COWP, and TRAP-C1 gene fragments were 97, 91, and 66%, respectively. The sensitivities of

SUBMITTER: McLauchlin J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC85515 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature