Abstract:
The stools of 214 children under five years of age with diarrhoea were examined for Cryptosporidium oocysts using the Modified Ziehl Nelson Technique. Twelve (5.6%) of the children had Cryptosporidium oocysts in their faeces. All of these were above 6 months of age and were either partially or fully weaned. There were 15 exclusively breast fed children of whom 11 were less than 6 months of age. None of these cases had the evidence of Cryptosporidial infection. The present study indicates the importance of Cryptosporidium as a possible etiologic agent in patients with diarrhoeal diseases. However, a comprehensive investigation is needed in order to rule out other enteropathogens.