Can salt water kill cryptosporidiosis

Answer 1

== == == == There is no reliable treatment for cryptosporidium enteritis; certain agents such as paromomycin, atovaquone, nitazoxanide,[16] and azithromycin are sometimes used, but they usually have only temporary effects.[citation needed] Treatment is primarily supportive. Fluids need to be replaced orally. A lactose-free diet should be taken as tolerated. In rare situations, intravenous fluids may be required. Antibiotics are not usually helpful, and are primarily reserved for persons with severe disease and a weak immune system. Sometimes relapses happen. The majority of immuno-competent individuals suffer a short (less than 2 weeks) self-limiting course that requires supportive care with re-hydration and occasionally anti-diarrhoeal medication and ends with spontaneous recovery. Nitazoxanide is one drug that the US FDA has approved for use in immunocompetent people to combat diarrhea.[1] Spiramycin can help shorten the amount of time oocysts are passed as well as the duration of diarrhea in children. [12] In immunocompromised individuals-such as AIDS patients-cryptosporidiosis resolves slowly or not at all, and frequently causes a particularly severe and permanent form of watery diarrhea coupled with a greatly decreased ability to absorb key nutrients through the intestinal tract. The result is progressively severe dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, malnutrition, wasting, and eventual death. Spiramycin can help treat diarrhea in patients who are in the early stages of AIDS.[14] The mortality rate for infected AIDS patients is generally based on CD4+ marker counts; patients with CD4+ counts over 180 cells/mm³ generally recover with supportive hospital care and medication, but in patients with CD4+ counts below 50 cells/mm³, the effects are usually fatal within three to six months. During the Milwaukee cryptosporidiosis epidemic (the largest of its kind), 73% of AIDS patients with CD4 counts lower than 50 cells/mm³ and 36% of those with counts between 50 and 200 cells/mm³ died within the first year of contracting the infection. [17]. In one AIDS patient from Iran, who had pulmonary cryptosporidiosis in addition to intestinal cryptosporidiosis, azithromycin and paromomycin helped to clear the infection [18]. Currently, the best approach is to improve the immune status in immunodeficient individuals. The probiotic Saccharomyces boulardii sold over the counter in pharmacies and health shops (Brand name Florastor in US and DiarSafe in UK) has been found to be a helpful natural treatment in managing diarrhoea of various infectious origins including cryptosporidium. [19] Parenteral octreotide acetate can help decrease the number of stools passed. [9] A treatment for patients with biliary cryptosporidiosis who have cholangitis in addition to papillary stenosis is endoscopic sphincterotomy.[12] Currently research is being done in molecular-based immunotherapy. For example, synthetic isoflavone derivates have been shown to fight off Cryptosporidium parvum in vitro and in a gerbil. Derivates of nitazoxanide, which are synthetic nitro- or non nitro- thiazolide compounds, have also shown promising results in vitro.[20] Many treatment plants that take raw water from rivers, lakes, and reservoirs for public drinking water production use conventional filtration technologies. This involves a series of processes including coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration. Direct filtration, which is typically used to treat water with low particulate levels, includes coagulation and filtration but not sedimentation. Other common filtration processes including slow sand filters, diatomaceous earth filter and membranes will remove 99% of Cryptosporidium.[21] Membranes and bag and cartridge filters remove Cryptosporidium product-specifically. While Cryptosporidium is highly resistant to chlorine disinfection,[22] with high enough concentrations and contact time Cryptosporidium will be inactivated by chlorine dioxide and ozone treatment. The required levels of chlorine generally preclude the use of chlorine disinfection as a reliable method to control Cryptosporidium in drinking water. Ultraviolet light treatment at relatively low doses will inactivate Cryptosporidium. Water Research Foundation-funded research originally discovered UV's efficacy in inactivating Cryptosporidium.[23][24] One of the largest challenges in identifying outbreaks is the ability to identify Cryptosporidium in the laboratory. Real-time monitoring technology is now able to detect Cryptosporidium with online systems, unlike the spot and batch testing methods used in the past. The most reliable way to decontaminate drinking water which may be