Resolution of Cryptosporidiosis in Transplant Recipients: Review of the Literature and Presentation of a Renal Transplant Patient Treated With Nitazoxanide, Azithromycin, and Rifaximin

Ewa Tomczak; April N McDougal; A Clinton White Jr

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofab610

Resolution of Cryptosporidiosis in Transplant Recipients: Review of the Literature and Presentation of a Renal Transplant Patient Treated With Nitazoxanide, Azithromycin, and Rifaximin

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021 Dec 4;9(1):ofab610. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab610. eCollection 2022 Jan.

Authors

Ewa Tomczak¹, April N McDougal¹, A Clinton White Jr¹

Affiliation

¹ Infectious Disease Division, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA.

Abstract

Background: Cryptosporidium is a major cause of diarrheal disease worldwide, including chronic disease in malnourished children and patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. There are increasing reports of cryptosporidiosis in transplant patients, especially from middle-income countries.

Methods: The literature on treatment of cryptosporidiosis in transplant patients was reviewed and included no controlled trials but only small case series. Nitazoxanide, azithromycin, spiramycin, and combination therapies have been used, but none are consistently efficacious.

Results: We present a case of chronic diarrhea from cryptosporidiosis in a renal transplant patient. His illness resolved with decreasing immunosuppression and treatment with the 3-drug combination of nitazoxanide, azithromycin, and rifaximin.

Conclusions: Although current therapies are not reliably effective in the absence of an effective cellular immune response, combination therapies hold promise for improved responses.

Keywords: Cryptosporidium; azithromycin; cryptosporidiosis; nitazoxanide; transplant recipient.