Health Care Encyclopedia
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Cryptosporidium, organism Cryptosporidium is a protozoan parasite found in contaminated water. It has been increasingly recognized as the cause of outbreaks of diarrhea when water supplies become contaminated. In normal individuals, it is a self-limited disease. Among immunocompromised individuals with AIDS, cryptosporidium can cause severe diarrheal disease, gallbladder disease (cholecystitis), and inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis).
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| Review Date: 5/3/2006
Reviewed By: Michael C. Milone, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA.
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