Cryptosporidiosis is caused by a parasite called Cryptosporidium parvum. Many people with cryptosporidiosis may not have any symptoms. If they do, the symptoms include watery diarrhoea, stomach cramps, or a slight fever. These symptoms appear about two to ten days after the person is infected.

Cryptosporidiosis can be serious and long-lasting in people with AIDS as they have a weak immune system. If the CD4+ count is above two hundred, the illness may not last more than one to three weeks. However, the infection can still be present and the symptoms may reappear when the CD4+ count drops below two hundred.

Since cryptosporidiosis is normally spread by oral route, good personal and food hygiene can prevent it. Washing the hands often with soap and water is important to prevent the infection. Hands should always be washed before eating and preparing food. They should also be washed after (a) touching clothing, bedding, toilets, or bed pans soiled by someone who has diarrhoea, (b) gardening

touching pets or other animals and

touching anything that might have had contact with even the smallest amounts of human or animal stool, including dirt in your garden and other places.

Cytomegalovirus:

This virus is found in all parts of the world. It can cause retinitis in a person with HIV infection or AIDS. The symptoms include blurred vision and blindness, pain while swallowing, diarrhoea, and pain, weakness, and numbness in the legs.

Cytomegalovirus spreads from one person to another through saliva, semen, vaginal secretions, blood, urine, and breast milk. When a person touches these fluids with hands and then touches his/her nose or mouth, cytomegalovirus can occur. It can also be transmitted through sexual contact, breast-feeding, blood transfusions, and organ transplants.

Cytomegalovirus can be prevented by washing hands frequently and thoroughly and using condoms. Most blood banks test blood for cytomegalovirus. The test is sometimes recommended for people with HIV infection who need a blood transfusion.

In recent times, some doctors in India have been reporting several cases of cytomegalovirus, especially retinitis. This infection does not always cause symptoms, especially in people with normal immune system. Occasionally, it may cause fatigue, swollen glands, fever, and sore throat but since these symptoms can also occur due to other illnesses, it is difficult to detect cytomegalovirus.

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HIV

Introduction : For a definitive and correct diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, it is important to know the Glycaemic Criteria. Prior to 1979, no uniformity existed in the diagnostic criteria followed by different workers.

In 1979, Diagnostic criteria of DM was first set by National Diabetes Data

Group (NDDG), USA. In 1980 WHO expert committee endorsed the recommendations of NDDG with certain modifications. WHO – 1985 diagnostic criteria for diabetes mellitus is well accepted now-a-days.

An International Expert Committee, working under the sponsorship of American

Diabetes Association (ADA), was established in May, 1995 to review the classification and diagnosis based on the new diagnostic criteria of diabetes was published in 1997 with slight alternation.

SOURCE OF SPECIMEN :

Before interpretation of blood glucose value, it is important to know the source of blood specimen.

A plasma glucose is approximately 14% higher than the whole blood glucose value. Similarly, the capillary blood glucose level is 20mg higher than the corresponding whole venous blood glucose value, (at least in the post-prandial state).

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Some alternatives to surgery are these:

•   Hormone therapy. Should the cancer turn aggressive in the patient’s 80s, hormones can be given to shut down cancer cells and make them less damaging. Cost, including medications, is about 500 dollars a month.

•   Radiation. X rays may match surgery’s record for helping prolong life, but poorly done evaluations make it hard to tell.

•   Freezing. Dr. Peter Carroll directs the urological cancer program at the University of California at San Francisco. First, guided by ultrasound, he inserts five small tubes through the skin into the prostate. He then fills the tubes with liquid nitrogen at 180 degrees below zero. The cold theoretically kills the cancer cells (and other cells as well). Dr. Carroll said that within 3 to 6 months, no sign of cancer was found in up to 80 percent of the 150 patients studied. The method, begun in 1993, is too new to assess.

•   Watch and wait. Since prostate cancer often grows slowly, especially in older men, watchfulness, through regular checkups, may be best.

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