Was the tarazona analysis confirming the gastroenteritis outbreak performed in the clinic’s microbiology laboratory?
Yes, because the Tarazona Medical Center and 21 other medical centers in Zaragoza rely on this hospital. We are alerted that there are more gastroenteritis cases than usual. We studied the first cases in search of enteric pathogens causing gastroenteritis. We searched for enteropathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites until we identified the protozoan Cryptosporidium as the cause of the outbreak. To date, we have studied more than 500.
Many more will be affected.
Yes, because only patients with more important clinical conditions go to the health center.
Have all samples sent to you tested positive for this parasite?
Won’t. Elimination of parasites in feces is intermittent, so oocysts are not always seen or detected in the first sample. In microbiology, sometimes we need multiple samples to make a diagnosis.
How long does it take for a person to eliminate this microorganism?
quite. Once infected, the onset of symptoms is two days, but it can take up to a month to clear them from the body.
What were your thoughts when you got your first results?
We have found the causative agent of the outbreak. It is not a very rare pathogen. Parasites are divided into two categories: helminths (worms) and protozoa. There are two species of the latter, Giardia and Cryptosporidium, which are most common in our environment. Every year at the end of summer, swimming pools become contaminated with Cryptosporidium. It is a waterborne protozoa and is not uncommon in Aragon.
So, on top of that, the large number of people affected brought it to your attention?
That’s because small outbreaks are not uncommon. Now, the National Center of Microbiology in Mayardahonda has discovered six active outbreaks of Cryptosporidium in Spain. The mode of infection is fecal-oral infection. This transmission mechanism is common to many microorganisms.
And what exactly is this protozoan?
The microbial world is divided into bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. This is a tiny parasite among protozoa that can be seen under a microscope and is about 3 or 5 microns.
This affects the lives of residents of four Zaragoza towns and several Navarra municipalities.
The difference between this microorganism and other water-borne microorganisms is that Cryptosporidium oocysts have thick walls, which makes them resistant to chlorination.
There is much debate about the origin. What happens if a fish farm leaks?
The public health department will provide the information, but from what I know about protozoa as a microbiologist, there are two most common species, “Cryptosporidium” and “Cryptosporidium”. The first is transmitted through humans; the second, animals. It is very important to know whether the origin is human or animal, this is the key.
Are you researching it now?
Using the techniques of clinical hospitals, we found the genus “Cryptosporidium”, but in order to understand its genotype, work is being carried out at the Department of Parasitology of the Faculty of Medicine and the National Center. This will soon be known, and they’ve been working for 10 days, but samples at the genomic level are complex.
What steps should be taken to prevent the problem from happening again?
From what I understand, this is a specific event. But you have to be careful now, as affected individuals will continue to shed oocysts, and it may take a while for them to go away.
No treatment?
Generally, gastroenteritis is self-limiting. They are not treated with antibiotics but must be maintained very strictly on good hydration, soft food and hygiene.
Are you not getting as many samples anymore?
The epidemic is under control and it will take some time before it disappears completely, but the number of cases has dropped significantly, with three to five samples being received every day. This has nothing to do with the original days. Now we have to monitor transmission within households and between people, which is called horizontal transmission.
Has there ever been such a large-scale gastroenteritis epidemic in history?
The cholera epidemic of July 1971 is the epidemiological event most associated with a health crisis in recent years, although smaller outbreaks occur every year. Indeed, I had no idea there was a type of gastroenteritis that could affect an entire town, and I’ve been here for 25 years.
“Microbiologists protect health in the dark”
“Microbiologists take care of health in the shadows because we analyze all infectious diseases,” says Cristina Seral of the University Clinical Hospital of Losano Bresa.Samples are tested through this service to detect anything from cases of pneumonia, coronavirus, influenza or meningitis to health alerts or Like the outbreak in Tarazona.
These figures reflect Extensive work performed in the clinic’s microbiology laboratory, operates 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, and serves the needs of 22 rural and urban health centers and all hospitals in Zaragoza III region. For SARS-CoV-2, as many as 422,000 analyzes were performed between February 2020 and December 2022; the total would now be over 450,000.
Generally speaking, they are processed 150,000 samples per year, over 500,000 tests (A sample can contain three to four tests or assays) Excluding COVID-19 analyses, more than half of them come from primary care: “We have 40 to 50 employees, 11 microbiologists, and we participate in expert committees, for example to optimize antibiotics usage of”.