{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,19]],"date-time":"2026-09-19T10:04:33Z","timestamp":1789812273370,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,26]],"date-time":"2024-10-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1729900800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"ESTHER Alliance for Global Health Partnerships, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research","award":["01KA1102"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["01KA1102"]}]},{"name":"ESTHER Alliance for Global Health Partnerships, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research","award":["36K2-S-45 1922"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["36K2-S-45 1922"]}]},{"name":"German Ministry of Defense","award":["01KA1102"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["01KA1102"]}]},{"name":"German Ministry of Defense","award":["36K2-S-45 1922"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["36K2-S-45 1922"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>There is a paucity of information on the prevalence, risk factors, and clinical correlates of people living with HIV (PLWH) who are co-infected with Cryptosporidium spp. in the post-combined antiretroviral therapy era in Ghana. To provide such data, in this observational study, stool samples of 640 HIV-positive and 83 HIV-negative individuals in Ghana were screened for Cryptosporidium spp. Additionally, sociodemographic parameters, clinical symptoms, medication intake, and immunological parameters were assessed. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. was 11.8% (n = 73) in HIV-positive and 1.2% (n = 1) in HIV-negative participants (p &lt; 0.001). Within the group of HIV-positive participants, the prevalence reached 26.0% in patients with CD4+ T cell counts below 200 cells\/\u00b5L and 46.2% in the subgroup with CD4+ T cell counts below 50 cells\/\u00b5L. The frequencies of the clinical manifestation of weight loss and gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly higher in patients with Cryptosporidium spp. compared to those without co-infection (45.8% vs. 21.4%, p &lt; 0.001 and 22.2% vs. 12.2%, p = 0.031, respectively). In the modern post-cART era, the acquisition of Cryptosporidium spp. among PLWH in Ghana is driven largely by the degree of immunosuppression. Access to cART and screening for Cryptosporidium spp. as part of routine care might help control and reduce the burden of the infection.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms12112151","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,28]],"date-time":"2024-10-28T05:07:22Z","timestamp":1730092042000},"page":"2151","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["High Clinical Burden of Cryptosporidium spp. in Adult Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency in Ghana"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Fred Stephen","family":"Sarfo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi 00233, Ghana"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8967-9528","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hagen","family":"Frickmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, Bundeswehr Hospital Hamburg, 20359 Hamburg, Germany"},{"name":"Institute for Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medicine Rostock, 18057 Rostock, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Albert","family":"Dompreh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Microbiology, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shadrack","family":"Osei Asibey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3599-9136","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Richard","family":"Boateng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Microbiology, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9173-7072","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Felix","family":"Weinreich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"1 German-Netherlands Corps, 48143 M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Edmund","family":"Osei Kuffour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Retrovirology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4075-5972","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Betty Roberta","family":"Norman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi 00233, Ghana"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1604-8386","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Veronica","family":"Di Cristanziano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Virology, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6755-4492","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Torsten","family":"Feldt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinic of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University Hospital D\u00fcsseldorf, 40225 D\u00fcsseldorf, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1002-0326","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kirsten Alexandra","family":"Eberhardt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Tropical Medicine, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine and I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20359 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"997","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pt.2018.07.009","article-title":"Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Cryptosporidium","volume":"34","author":"Feng","year":"2018","journal-title":"Trends Parasitol."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1723","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMra013170","article-title":"Cryptosporidiosis","volume":"346","author":"Chen","year":"2002","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. 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