SYSTEMATIC REVIEW: THE IMPORTANCE OF WATER IN THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CRYPTOSPORIDIOSIS IN BRAZIL *

This is a review of the scientific literature on the presence and types of Cryptosporidium spp. in Brazilian water sources.  We assess the importance of waterborne oocyst in the epidemiology of cryptosporidiosis in Brazil. The PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Scielo databases were searched using the following keywords: “ Cryptosporidium and Waterborne”, “ Cryptosporidium and Waterborne”, “ Cryptosporidium and Water”, “ Cryptosporidium and Brazil”, “ Cryptosporidium and Environment”, “ Cryptosporidium and Brazil and Environmental”, “ Cryptosporidium and Brazil and waterborne and Environmental”. We discuss original articles focused on waterborne cryptosporidiosis published in Portuguese or English and reporting research performed in Brazil. We excluded studies undertaken in countires other than Brazil and articles not directly relevant to waterborne cryptosporidiosis. Using the above listed search terms, a total of 149 articles were found in PubMed, of which 10 were met the inclusion criteria; in the ScienceDirect database, we found 306 articles all of which were excluded because they were foreign articles. In Scielo, 214 articles were found, of which we selected 8. Thus, 18 studies were analyzed. According to these publications, a large part of the Brazilian population is at risk of infection by this protozoan. We conclude that research on waterborne transmission of cryptosporidium  should be intensified and should include regions of Brazil which are understudied.  This research is particularly relevant to populations affected by AIDS or living in communities where AIDS is highly prevalent.