title: Looking for Cryptosporidium: the application of advances in detection and diagnosis.
abstract: The protozoan Cryptosporidium is a major public and animal health concern. Young children, immunocompromised people, and pre-weaning animals are especially vulnerable, but treatment options are limited and there is no vaccine. A laboratory diagnosis is required to confirm cases of cryptosporidiosis, and species and genotype determination is essential in distinguishing human from non-human sources, understanding transmission, and strengthening the epidemiological evidence for causative links in outbreaks. However, testing is not consistent, as demonstrated by investigation of a significant increase in cases in some European countries during 2012. Many methods employed are laborious and time-consuming; recent advances, translated into diagnostic assays, can improve testing and facilitate typing to support clinical and environmental investigations.
authors.affiliation: Cryptosporidium Reference Unit, Public Health Wales Microbiology, Singleton Hospital, Swansea, UK. rachel.chalmers@wales.nhs.uk
authors.forename: Rachel M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Chalmers
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Katzer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D002648:Child; D003457:Cryptosporidiosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D003458:Cryptosporidium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D058889:Molecular Typing; D011634:Public Health; D013045:Species Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D015047:Zoonoses
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan