Diagnostic Procedures, Epidemiology and Genetic Diversity of Cryptosporidium Species in Bungoma County, Kenya

A prospective study on prevalence of Cryptosporidium and cryptosporidiosis was carried out in Bungoma County, Kenya. A total of 712 fecal samples from children up to five years of age were collected, from four Hospitals during a 30 month period covering January 2011 to June 2013. Overall prevalence of cryptosporidiosis in children was 5.06 %. Genotype analysis revealed that C. hominis had the highest prevalence of 38.89 % (14/36) of the isolates, 36.11 % were C. parvum, while the prevalence of C. meleagridis and C. canis was 16.67 % and 5.56 % respectively. Cryptosporidiosis was significantly associated with diarrhea (acute/persistent /recurrent) (P=0.01 OR=1.301) and Abdominal swelling and pain (P=0.031, OR=1.56, 95 %= 1.04-2.34). The results suggest that prevalence of cryptosporidiosis is comparable to other regions of the world with C. hominis being the most common species circulating in the study area followed by C. parvum and C. meleagridis in that order.