This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Cryptosporidium spp.

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Cryptosporidium is an intracellular organism that infects the enterocytes of the small intestine.

An outer shell of the parasite allows it to survive outside of the body and makes it very resistant to severe environmental conditions (heat, cold or chemical disinfectants) for prolonged periods of time.

  • the parasite may survive for months in moist soil or water
  • due to its resistance to most common water disinfection procedures, including chlorination, water distribution systems and swimming pools are particularly vulnerable to Cryptosporidium contamination
    • parasite can be removed by well operated filtration, or killed by UV treatment (1)

In the U.K., Crytosporidial spp. are nearly as common as salmonella and three times as common as shigella in causing acute infectious diarrhoea

Reference:

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.