==== Front
Online J Public Health InformOnline J Public Health InformOJPHIOnline Journal of Public Health Informatics1947-2579University of Illinois at Chicago Library  ojphi-10-e11410.5210/ojphi.v10i1.8850ISDS 2018 Conference AbstractsEpidemiological Distribution of Reported Cryptosporidiosis cases in
Houston, Texas, 2013-2016 Abdullah Najmus Khayat Razina *Biswas Sudipa Rehman Hafeez Short Kirstin Epidemiology, City of Houston Public Health, Houston,
TX, USA* Razina Khayat E-mail: razina.khayat@houstontx.gov30 5 2018 2018 10 1 e114ISDS Annual Conference Proceedings 2018. This is an Open Access
article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/), permitting all
non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.Keywords 
CryptosporidiosisHIVDisease Surveillance
==== Body
Objective
To demonstrate the demographic and clinical distribution of reported
Cryptosporidiosis cases in Houston, Texas, from 2013-2016

Introduction
Cryptosporidiosis is a diarrheal disease caused by microscopic parasite
Cryptosporidium. Modes of transmission include eating
undercooked food contaminated with the parasite, swallowing something that has come
into contact with human or animal feces, or swallowing pool water contaminated with
the parasite. The disease is clinically manifested usually with chronic diarrhea and
abdominal cramps. It is found to be more prevalent in immunocompromised patients
like HIV and AIDS. Cryptosporidiosis usually causes potentially life-threatening
disease in people with AIDS.

Methods
Data were extracted from the Houston Electronic Disease Surveillance System (HEDSS)
from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2016. A total of 170 confirmed cases received
during the study period were analyzed and crossed checked against the national
Enhanced HIV/AIDS Reporting System (eHARS) database to examine epidemiological
distribution. SAS 9.4 was used to analyze demographics, clinical characteristics as
well as transmission factors.

Results
Approximately, 72% of the cases were males and 28% were females. The 35-44 year old
age group (37%) had the highest prevalence. African Americans (49%) and Hispanics
(30%) had the highest number of confirmed Cryptosporidiosis cases. 133 of the 170
cases, 78% were previously reported to the eHARS national database as HIV/AIDS
cases. Among the cases reported to eHARS, 90% had AIDS. 10% of the reported cases
were found to be deceased in eHARS database. Among the 170 reported cases, 30% were
hospitalized. Clinical presentations were diarrhea (44%), followed by abdominal
cramps (23%), and nausea and vomiting (18%). Most common transmission factors among
cryptosporidiosis cases were found to be men who have sex with men (MSM) (34%),
followed by heterosexual contact with HIV/AIDS patients (14%), and MSM with
Intravenous/Injection drug user (IDU) (5%). Among the reported cases, 70% were
receiving ongoing medical services for their HIV/AIDS status.

Conclusions
Cryptosporidiosis in patients with HIV/AIDS diagnosis is mostly prevalent in males,
African American adults and those between 35-44 years of age, with common clinical
presentations of diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The prevalence of cryptosporidiosis
is found to be more common in AIDS patients. Prevention strategies should be focused
on raising awareness among immunocompromised patients with HIV and symptoms of
cryptosporidiosis so they get evaluated and treated quickly to prevent conversion to
AIDS disease.

Acknowledgments
Thanks to the City of Houston Health Department.
==== Refs
References
1 Caccio SM Pozio E  .
2006 . Advances in the epidemiology, diagnosis
and treatment of cryptosptidiosis . Expert Rev Anti
Infect Ther . 4 (3 ),
429 -43 . 10.1586/14787210.4.3.429 16771620 
2 Hunter PR Nichols G  .
2002 . Epidemiology ad clinical features of
cryptosporidium infection in immunocompromised patients .
Clin Microbiol Rev . 15 (1 ),
145 -54 . 10.1128/CMR.15.1.145-154.2002 11781272 
3 http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/crypyo/gen_info/infect.html