Relationship of CD4 Cell Counts and History of Diarrhea with Cryptosporidium sp. on HIV/AIDS Patients in West Sumatra Indonesia

Opportunistic infections are infections that occur due to a decrease in the immune system. This infection can be fatal in people with weak immune systems, especially people with HIV/AIDS. Cryptosporidium sp. is one of the opportunistic intestinal protozoa that is generally asymptomatic and is self-limited in immunocompetent individuals, but in individuals with an immune deficiency often results in chronic diarrhea, causing dehydration and malnutrition which can increase mortality and morbidity in HIV patients. Observational study with cross-sectional design on 50 fecal samples of HIV/AIDS patients. Cryptosporidium sp. infections performed by staining Ziehl Neelsen, and looking at the relationship of a history of diarrhea with Cryptosporidium sp. The results obtained 2 respondents (4%) positive infected with Cryptosporidium sp., There is a significant relationship between CD4 cell counts with Cryptosporidium sp. infection, p-value=0.001 (p<0.05) and there is a significant relationship between Cryptosporidium sp. infections with a history of diarrhea, p-value=0.045 (p<0.05).