Microsporidiosis-Definition, Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Microsporidiosis is define as an illness that is due to infection with microscopic organisms called microsporidia.Microsporidia are small simple single-celled protozoan parasites that form spores widely found in nature that produce disease in both animals and humans. These parasites must exist within other cells and are grown in the liver,intestine, kidney, cornea, brain, nerves, and muscles. These spores moved to other cells or are eradicated in the stool or urine.

There are more than 1,200 species belonging to 143 genera have been known as parasites infecting a various number of vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Species identified as causing disease in humans include the following such as encephalitozoon hellem, enterocytozoon bieneusi, encephalitozoon intestinalis, encephalitozoon cuniculi, pleistophora species, trachipleistophora hominis, trachipleistophora anthropophthera, nosema connori ,nosema ocularum ,brachiola vesicularum, vittaforma corneae, microsporidium ceylonensis, microsporidium africanum & brachiola algerae.These organisms infect the lining of the small intestine and can result complex loose bowels and unable to absorb food. Some organisms can also cause eye, sinus, and kidney symptoms.

Causes

Scientific report shows that microsporidiosis may be water-borne microscopic organism, that causes disease and may be transmitted from human to human. In most conditions the patients with HIV infection appear with complex immunodeficiency. Individuals who are immunocompetent are reported to develop self-limited lose bowles due to microsporidia.

Microsporidiosis is produced by small protozoan parasites called microsporidia, the most common of which is enterocytozoon bieneusi. A number of scientific reports shown that enterocytozoon bieneusi infections of the small intestine are an important result of chronic diarrhoea in people with AIDS.

The microsporidia spores are discharged from the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts of infected animals. The spores are then inhaled by people. In the bowels it is used to penetrate a cell. Once within the cell, the microsporidia develop and increase in large number cause chronic diarrhea, hepatitis, myositis, or sinusitis.

Symptoms

Infection with microsporidia can cause blood in the urine, kidney failure, bladder inflammation, and bowel perforation. Microsporidia can also moved in the hole body to produce inflammation in the brain, pancreas, gallbladder, sinuses, and ears. Lung symptoms are irregular breathing & cough.

Microsporidiosis is occurs with heavy watery diarrhoea In the condition of microsporidiosis persons body not able to absorbed nutrients & results weight loss. Some other symptoms can include such as cramping stomach pains, nausea, wind and irregular bowel movements.

There are some common symptoms of microsporidiosis are:

• Vomiting.


• Pain in abdominal.


• Weight loss.


• Appetite loss.


• Dehydration.


• Flatulence.


• Pain in stomach.


• Wind bowel movements .


• Irregular bowel movements.

Treatments

There is no proper treatment, however a drug called albendazole is an efficacious treatment for some kinds of microsporidiosis. But it appears less effective against enterocytozoon bieneusi.

To cure microsporidiosis there are some other treatments are available such as itraconazole,metronidazole, atovaquone, nitazanoxide and thalidomide. To ebb diarrhoea metronidazole has shown some success,but does not able remove the parasites themselves from the gut. In a number of conditions itraconazole has been shown to be efficacious against microsporidiosis impacting the eye.