ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the available scientific literature regarding Cryptosporidium chemotherapy. It provides both successful and unsuccessful attempts to inactivate Cryptosporidium using both chemical and immunologic intervention strategies. Numerous compounds have undergone efficacy evaluations against Cryptosporidium spp. in nonhuman hosts. Results were obtained from studies that focused on treatment of naturally acquired infections, or treatment or prophylaxis of experimentally induced infections or disease. The complete resolution of cryptosporidial diarrhea was observed in two children, immunocompromised after receiving chemotherapy, treated with 40 mg/kg azithromycin. In another study, children undergoing chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia developed cryptosporidiosis and were successfully treated with azithromycin. Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy was introduced in 1996 and has decreased the number of opportunistic viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections in HIV patients. It has become both a prophylactic and chemotherapeutic treatment for cryptosporidiosis in immunocompromised patients, with numerous cases reporting that the therapy can resolve cryptosporidiosis in most immunocompromised patients.
