title: [Cryptosporidiosis in children of Costa Rica: a cross section and longitudinal study].
abstract: The present report is a systematic study of children, with and without diarrhea from Costa Rican metropolitan areas and southern rural higlands. Children were observed, respectively, at emergencies, Hospital Nacional de Niños, and in a field station in Puriscal; urban children were studied vertically, rural children were observed prospectively (cohort study). Cryptosporidium sp. was found in 4.3% of the cases of diarrhea; diarrhea was generally severe in urban children, but mild in the rural. Infection was detected in urban children less than one year of age: contrasting, no rural infants were found infected, which might be related to breast-feeding, since Puriscal infants were intensively breast-fed for several months, while many urban infants were not breast-fed or were weaned earlier. Cryptosporidium sp. appeared during the warm, rainy and humid months of May through August, when the coccidium was associated with 14.8% of the urban and 15.4% of the rural diarrheas. All urban cases presented dehydration which was corrected with oral rehydration salt therapy, and occasionally with intravenous fluids; dehydration was not common in the rural cases.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003364:Costa Rica; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000209:etiology / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D012423:Rural Health; D014504:Urban Health; D014886:Weaning
vernacular_title: Criptosporidiosis en niños de Costa Rica: estudio transveral y longitudinal.