Karabey M.Can H.Öner T.Ö.Döşkaya M.Alak S.E.Döşkaya A.D.Karakavuk M.Köseoğlu A.E.Ün C.Gürüz A.Y.Alacacıoğlu A.Pektaş B.Gül A.Kaya S.Gökmen A.A.2024-07-222024-07-22202102564947http://akademikarsiv.cbu.edu.tr:4000/handle/123456789/13262BACKGROUND: Cryptosporidium spp. is a protozoan parasite that infects many vertebrate animals, including humans. Since Cryptosporidium spp. can cause chronic life-threatening diarrhea and severe malabsorption in immunocompromised patients, we investigated the prevalence of this parasite among patients undergoing chemotherapy for malignant solid tumors. OBJECTIVE: Investigate the prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. in stool samples. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Tertiary care. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Stool samples were collected from adult patients with malignant solid tumors receiving chemotherapy and diarrhea. Cryptosporidium spp. prevalence was determined using Ziehl-Neelsen staining, ELISA, and real-time PCR targeting of the COWP gene. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. in patients undergoing chemotherapy for malignant solid tumors. SAMPLE SIZE: 94 RESULTS: The prevalence was 2.1% (2/94), 5.3% (5/94), and 5.3% (5/94) as detected by Ziehl-Neelsen staining, real-time PCR and ELISA, respectively. The prevalence reached 8.5% (8/94) using all results obtained from the three methods. Among eight positive stool samples, four were positive by at least two different methods (Ziehl-Neelsen staining-ELISA or ELISA-real-time PCR) whereas the remaining four were positive by either ELISA or real-time PCR. CONCLUSION: These findings show the risk of cryptosporidiosis in cancer patients and the necessity to use at least two diagnostic methods during the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis to reach more accurate and trustworthy results. LIMITATIONS: Further studies with a larger sample size are recommended. Copyright: Copyright © 2021, Annals of Saudi Medicine, Saudi Arabia. This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialNoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND). The details of which can be accessed at http://creativecommons. org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/EnglishAll Open Access; Gold Open AccessAnimalsCross-Sectional StudiesCryptosporidiosisCryptosporidiumDiarrheaHumansNeoplasmsacute myeloid leukemiaadultArticlebasal cell carcinomabladder cancerbrain cancerbreast cancercancer chemotherapycancer patientcarcinomaCD4 lymphocyte countclinical featurecolon cancercontrolled studycross-sectional studycryptosporidiosisCryptosporidiumdiarrheadisease durationenzyme linked immunosorbent assayesophagus cancerfeces analysisfemalehumanhuman celllarynx cancerliver cell carcinomalung cancerlymphomamajor clinical studymalemiddle agedmultiple myelomanonhumanovary cancerpancreas cancerpredictive valueprevalenceprostate cancerreal time polymerase chain reactionrectum cancerrenal cell carcinomasensitivity and specificityskin cancersolid malignant neoplasmstainingstomach cancertertiary health careuterus sarcomaanimalcryptosporidiosisdiarrheageneticsneoplasmArticle10.5144/0256-4947.2021.293