Species of Cryptosporidia Causing Subclinical Infection Associated With Growth Faltering in Rural and Urban Bangladesh: A Birth Cohort Study

Abstract

This birth cohort study describes the early childhood burden of cryptosporidiosis in rural and urban Bangladesh. Important findings include an association of repeated and subclinical cryptosporidiosis with growth faltering, and disparate predominant Cryptosporidium species in the urban vs rural site.

Using functional near‐infrared spectroscopy to assess social information processing in poor urban Bangladeshi infants and toddlers

“…Participants lived in an urban slum in the Mirpur neighborhood of Dhaka, Bangladesh and were enrolled before or at birth for a study on diarrheal disease burden [infant cohort, CRYPTO see (Steiner et al, )] or an oral vaccine efficacy trial [toddler cohort, PROVIDE, see (Kirkpatrick et al, )]. Participants were recruited for the fNIRS study at the targeted ages of 6 months for infants [ N = 130, 6.1 ( SD 1.0) months old, male n = 54] and 36 months for toddlers [ N = 130, 36.4 ( SD 0.2) months old, male n = 72].…”

Genome-wide association study of cryptosporidiosis in infants implicatesPRKCA

“…More details can be found in Steiner et al (2018) and Korpe et al (2018). (5, 10) We used a nested case-control design, where children with at least one diarrheal sample positive for Cryptosporidium within the first year were defined as “cases”. Children with diarrheal samples, of which none are positive for Cryptosporidium , were defined as “controls”.…”

“…(3–6) The majority of human infections are caused by the C. hominis, C. meleagridis, and C. parvum species, members of the phylum Apicomplexa. (5, 7, 8) As cryptosporidiosis is transmitted fecal-orally, contact with any reservoir with possible fecal contamination could serve as point of transmission. In the developed world, cryptosporidia are an important cause of diarrhea in individuals living with HIV and is the most common pathogen causing waterborne outbreaks.…”

“…In endemic regions, cryptosporidiosis mostly impacts young children, and risk factors for infection include poverty, and overcrowding. (5, 9–11) Livestock serve as an environmental reservoir for C. parvum , and transmission has been reported after contact with infected animals or drinking water contaminated by human or animal waste. (12) In regions where Cryptosporidium infection is endemic, there is heterogeneity in clinical course and outcome.…”

“…Fully three-fourths of infections were subclinical, but regardless of symptoms, children with cryptosporidiosis were more likely to become malnourished by age two years. (5) Potential explanations for the Cryptosporidium infection heterogeneity include differences in pathogenicity of various Cryptosporidium species or genotypes (13), as well as host genetic susceptibility.…”