Learn more about the symptoms, causes, treatment of this foodborne intestinal illness that causes watery, sometimes explosive, diarrhea.
Cyclospora infection (cyclosporiasis) causes watery, and sometimes explosive, diarrhea. The one-celled parasite that causes cyclospora infection can enter your body when you ingest contaminated food or water. Fresh produce is the culprit in many cases of cyclospora infection.
Because diarrhea can be caused by many things, it can be difficult to diagnose cyclospora infection unless a specialized stool test is done. Treatment for cyclospora infection is antibiotics. Food safety precautions may help prevent the disease.
Some people infected with the microscopic parasite that causes cyclospora infection develop no signs or symptoms. For others, signs and symptoms — which usually begin within two to 11 days of eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water — may include:
The diarrhea may end by itself within a few days, or it may last for weeks. If you have HIV or another condition that compromises your immune system, the infection can last for months if not treated.
Many conditions can cause diarrhea and other gastrointestinal signs and symptoms. If you develop persistent diarrhea that lasts several days or recurs, contact your doctor so that he or she can identify the cause and recommend treatment. If you've eaten a food that's been recalled because of a cyclospora outbreak or traveled in an area where parasites such as cyclospora are common, be sure to tell your doctor.
If you experience dehydration due to diarrhea, see your doctor. Warning signs of dehydration include:
A one-celled parasite, Cyclospora cayetanensis, causes cyclospora infection. You get it by drinking water or eating food that's been contaminated by a person infected with the parasite.
A person infected with cyclospora passes the parasite in stool. However, unlike some other foodborne parasites, cyclospora doesn't become infectious until days or weeks after it's passed in a bowel movement. So it's unlikely that you can get the infection directly from a person infected with cyclospora, such as a restaurant worker who doesn't wash his or her hands adequately after using the toilet.
Before the 1990s, sporadic cases of cyclospora infection turned up only in people who traveled in developing countries and in those with HIV or another condition that caused a weakened immune system. However, since the 1990s, lettuce, fresh basil and imported raspberries have been implicated in cyclospora outbreaks in the United States and Canada.
In the past, people who traveled in developing countries were more likely to get cyclospora infection. These days, the infection is found worldwide, and anyone who ingests contaminated food or water can get it.
The prolonged diarrhea of untreated cyclospora infection can cause dehydration. If you're an otherwise healthy adult, you can treat dehydration by drinking more fluids. Some people may need to be hospitalized to receive intravenous fluids because they're at higher risk of severe dehydration. Examples include:
When traveling to developing nations, it's essential to be careful about what you eat and drink. However, recent cyclospora infection outbreaks have been linked to foods imported to or grown in the United States and Canada. Unfortunately, even careful washing of foods isn't enough to eliminate the parasite that causes the infection.
To keep track of what foods have been linked to recent outbreaks of cyclospora infection, you may want to periodically check the food safety alert section of the Food and Drug Administration's website.
Because there are so many possible causes of diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms, diagnosis of cyclospora infection requires a laboratory test to identify the parasite in your stool. There are no blood tests to diagnose a cyclospora infection.
Treatment for cyclospora infection is a combination antibiotic known as trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim, Septra). If you're unable to take trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, your doctor may prescribe ciprofloxacin or nitazoxanide (Alinia).
To prevent or treat mild to moderate fluid loss from the severe diarrhea associated with cyclospora infection, it's generally adequate for healthy adults to drink water.
For children and infants, you may want to use an oral rehydration solution, such as Pedialyte. Sports drinks and carbonated beverages don't offer the right balance of nutrients that children need.
If you have a mild case of cyclospora infection, you may not need to seek medical treatment because it will clear up by itself. However, call your doctor if the illness lasts more than a few days or if it appears to be causing dehydration.
For cyclospora infection, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
Your doctor will need to know certain details about your illness to make a diagnosis. Be prepared to answer questions such as:
October 27th, 2020
