title: Epidemiological study of Cryptosporidium parvum antibodies [corrected] in sera of persons from Germany.
abstract: In a seroprevalence study including 495 sera from persons of all age-groups, the presence of anti-Cryptosporidium parvum antibodies was evaluated in an enzyme immunoassay. Despite the fact that C. parvum is only found in approximately 2% of patients with diarrhea in Germany, specific antibodies could be detected in 15.4% of all samples. This figure indicates that a substantial proportion of the German population has been confronted with this parasite and it raises the question of whether C. parvum is a potential health risk to the general population.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Johannes-Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Petry
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016785:Cryptosporidium parvum / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M