TY - JOUR
T1 - Asymptomatic and symptomatic cryptosporidiosis
T2 - Their acute effect on weight gain in Peruvian children
AU - Checkley, William
AU - Gilman, Robert H.
AU - Epstein, Leonardo D.
AU - Suarez, Manuel
AU - Diaz, J. Fernando
AU - Cabrera, Lilia
AU - Black, Robert E.
AU - Sterling, Charles R.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grant 1-U01-A135894-01 and the RG-ER fund.
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - This study investigated whether a child's first infection with Cryptosporidium parvum had an acute effect on weight gain. Specifically, the authors compared monthly rates of weight gain between C. parvum-infected and noninfected children. Over a 2-year period (1989-1991), a cohort of Peruvian children aged 0-3 months at recruitment were followed twice weekly for assessment of daily diarrheal status, weekly for C. parvum stool examinations, and monthly for anthropometric measurements. Data on 207 children permitted the authors to examine the effect of C. parvum infection on weight gain. During the 2-year study period, 45% (94/207) of the children became infected with C. parvum for the first time. Weight gain intervals in 57 of the 94 infected children met criteria for analysis. Of these, 63 percent (36/57) were asymptomatic (i.e., had no diarrhea). On average, children with symptomatic cryptosporidiosis gained (i.e., grew) 342 g less (95% confidence interval 167-517) during the first month of infection than did children without diarrhea who were not yet infected. The effect of asymptomatic cryptosporidiosis was less severe: On average, children with asymptomatic infection gained 162 g less (95% confidence interval 27-297) during the first month of infection than did children without diarrhea who were not yet infected. Symptomatic cryptosporidiosis retarded weight gain more than did asymptomatic cryptosporidiosis, but the latter was twice as common. Since asymptomatic cryptosporidiosis is more prevalent, it may have more of an overall adverse effect on child growth in the community than symptomatic cryptosporidiosis.
AB - This study investigated whether a child's first infection with Cryptosporidium parvum had an acute effect on weight gain. Specifically, the authors compared monthly rates of weight gain between C. parvum-infected and noninfected children. Over a 2-year period (1989-1991), a cohort of Peruvian children aged 0-3 months at recruitment were followed twice weekly for assessment of daily diarrheal status, weekly for C. parvum stool examinations, and monthly for anthropometric measurements. Data on 207 children permitted the authors to examine the effect of C. parvum infection on weight gain. During the 2-year study period, 45% (94/207) of the children became infected with C. parvum for the first time. Weight gain intervals in 57 of the 94 infected children met criteria for analysis. Of these, 63 percent (36/57) were asymptomatic (i.e., had no diarrhea). On average, children with symptomatic cryptosporidiosis gained (i.e., grew) 342 g less (95% confidence interval 167-517) during the first month of infection than did children without diarrhea who were not yet infected. The effect of asymptomatic cryptosporidiosis was less severe: On average, children with asymptomatic infection gained 162 g less (95% confidence interval 27-297) during the first month of infection than did children without diarrhea who were not yet infected. Symptomatic cryptosporidiosis retarded weight gain more than did asymptomatic cryptosporidiosis, but the latter was twice as common. Since asymptomatic cryptosporidiosis is more prevalent, it may have more of an overall adverse effect on child growth in the community than symptomatic cryptosporidiosis.
KW - Cryptosporidium parvum
KW - asymptomatic infection
KW - cryptosporidiosis
KW - diarrhea, infantile
KW - growth
KW - nutrition disorders
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U2 - 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009086
DO - 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009086
M3 - Article
C2 - 9006312
AN - SCOPUS:0031030619
SN - 0002-9262
VL - 145
SP - 156
EP - 163
JO - American journal of epidemiology
JF - American journal of epidemiology
IS - 2
ER -