Cryptosporidium hominis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cryptosporidium hominis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Diaphoretickes |
| Clade: | SAR |
| Clade: | Alveolata |
| Phylum: | Apicomplexa |
| Class: | Conoidasida |
| Order: | Eucoccidiorida |
| Family: | Cryptosporidiidae |
| Genus: | Cryptosporidium |
| Species: | C. hominis |
| Binomial name | |
| Cryptosporidium hominis Morgan-Ryan, Fall, Ward, Hijjawi, Sulaiman, Fayer, Thompson, Olson, Lal and Xiao, 2002 | |
Cryptosporidium hominis, along with Cryptosporidium parvum, is among the medically important Cryptosporidium species.[1] It is an obligate parasite of humans that can colonize the gastrointestinal tract resulting in the gastroenteritis and diarrhea characteristic of cryptosporidiosis. Unlike C. parvum, which has a rather broad host range, C. hominis is almost exclusively a parasite of humans. As a result, C. hominis has a low zoonotic potential compared to C. parvum. It is spread through the fecal-oral route usually by drinking water contaminated with oocyst laden feces.[2] There are many exposure risks that people can encounter in affected areas of the world. Cryptosporidium infections are large contributors of child death and illness in heavily affected areas, yet low importance has been placed on both identifying the species and finding more treatment options outside of nitazoxanide for children and AIDS patients.[3]
Cryptosporidium hominis shares many similar characteristics with C. parvum including identical oocyst morphology and life-cycle. The different cryptosporidium species share nearly identical morphological features, so differentiation is only seen at the molecular level.[4] As a result, C. hominis is most easily differentiated from C. parvum through genetic analysis via time-intensive PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism or gene sequencing.[5]