Document 0661
 DOCN  M95A0661
 TI    What's in the water? 
 DT    9510
 SO    Treat Rev. 1995 Mar/Apr;(no 17):4-5. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       AIDS/95700322
 AB    Cryptosporidiosis is a protozoal infection that can come from water, or
       be spread from person to person. Individual protozoa are very resistant
       to the environment and disinfectants. How cryptosporidium causes
       infection is unknown, but it is known that large adult animals that
       commonly become infected do not get sick; small animals such as mice do
       not get symptomatic infection so there are no disease models to study in
       the lab. It is not known how many people are carrying the organism,
       however, in people with AIDS, 10 to 20 percent appear to be infected and
       testing for cryptosporidiosis is nearly impossible. It is also unknown
       what the immune system responds to in order to make antibodies to
       cryptosporidium. There have been outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis in the
       water supply of cities with public water filtering systems, such as
       Milwaukee in 1993. Boiling water for at least 1 minute kills the
       cryptosporidial oocysts if any exist, and while some bottled water
       claims to be cryptosporidium free, no data exist to prove it. No really
       good treatment exists for cryptosporidiosis, but Azithromycin is better
       absorbed than other drugs studied; it can be obtained directly from
       Pfizer through their compassionate use program. A new study using IGX is
       being conducted using chicken immunoglobulins which fight
       cryptosporidiosis. Participants drink irradiated eggnog five times per
       day. Participants must be HIV positive, have cryptosporidiosis, and not
       have other intestinal infection. The Network can be contacted for more
       information on this study.
 DE    Animal  Antiprotozoal Agents/THERAPEUTIC USE  Azithromycin/THERAPEUTIC
       USE  *Cryptosporidiosis/COMPLICATIONS/DRUG THERAPY/PARASITOLOGY/
       THERAPY  Disease Models, Animal  HIV Seropositivity/COMPLICATIONS  Human
       Immunoglobulins/THERAPEUTIC USE  Immunotherapy  *Water Microbiology
       NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).