In addition, people should refrain from engaging in sexual activities that can expose them to feces.Standard water filtration may not be enough to eliminate Cryptosporidium; boiling for at least 1 minute (3 minutes above 6,500 feet (2,000 m) of altitude) will decontaminate it. Heating milk at 71.7 °C (161 °F) for 15 seconds pasteurizes it and can destroy the oocysts ability to infect. Water can also be made safe by filtering with a filter with pore size not greater than 1 micrometre, or by filters that have been approved for "cyst removal" by NSF International National Sanitation Foundation. Bottled drinking water is less likely to contain Cryptosporidium, especially if the water is from an underground source.People with cryptosporidiosis should not swim in communal areas because the pathogen can reside in the anal and genital areas and be washed off. They should wait until at least two weeks after diarrhea stops before entering public water sources, since oocysts can still be shed for a while. Also, they should stay away from immunosuppressed people. Immunocompromised people should take care to protect themselves from water in lakes and streams. They should also stay away from animal stools and wash their hands after touching animals. To be safe, they should boil or filter their water.
In general, the mortality rate for infected AIDS patients is based on CD4+ marker counts. Patients with CD4+ counts over 180 cells/mm³ recover with supportive hospital care and medication; but, in patients with CD4+ counts below 50 cells/mm³, the effects are usually fatal within 3 to 6 months. During the Milwaukee cryptosporidiosis epidemic (the largest of its kind), 73% of AIDS patients with CD4+ counts lower than 50 cells/mm³ and 36% of those with counts between 50 and 200 cells/mm³ died within the first year of contracting the infection.The best treatment approach is to improve the immune status in immunodeficient individuals using highly active antiretroviral therapy that includes an HIV protease inhibitor along with continued use of antiparasitic medication. Antiparasitic drug treatment for immunocompromised individuals usually involves the combination of nitazoxanide, paromomycin, and azithromycin together; these drugs are only partially active in HIV/AIDS patients compared to their effect in immunocompetent persons. A Cochrane Collaboration review recommended that nitazoxanide be considered for use in treatment despite its reduced effectiveness in immunocompromised individuals.Currently, research is being done in molecular-based immunotherapy. For example, synthetic isoflavone derivates have been shown to fight off Cryptosporidium parvum both in vitro and in animal studies. Derivates of nitazoxanide, known as thiazolides, have also shown promising results in vitro. rifaximin is also sometimes used for immunocompromised patients/patients with severe disease. Epidemiology
Cryptosporidiosis is found worldwide. It causes 50.8% of water-borne diseases that are attributed to parasites. In developing countries, 8–19% of diarrheal diseases can be attributed to Cryptosporidium.