Table 1.
Efficacies of treatments tested against cryptosporidiosis in human patients.
| Drug | Age and health status of patients | Number of individuals | Study type | Reference | Treatment type | Efficacy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Cure | Parasitological Cure | ||||||
| Albendazole | Adults with advanced AIDS (CD4+ cell counts >200/mm3) | 4 | OL | (Zulu et al., 2002) | Therapeutic | + | + |
| Azithromycin | Adults with AIDS | 85 | R, DB, PC | (Soave et al., 1993) | Therapeutic | ± | ± |
| Children on chemotherapy for cancer | 2 | CR | (Vargas et al., 1993) | Therapeutic | + | ± | |
| Children with AIDS | 4 | CR | (Hicks et al., 1996) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Adults with AIDS | 14 | OL | (Blanshard et al., 1997) | Therapeutic | – | – | |
| 13 | OL, DC | (Dionisio et al., 1998) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 54 | RCR | (Holmberg et al., 1998) | Prophylactic | – | – | ||
| 41 | R, OL, DC | (Kadappu et al., 2002) | Therapeutic | + | ± | ||
| Immunocompetent children | 43 | OL, AC | (Allam and Shehab, 2002) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Children on chemotherapy for cancer | 2 | CR | (Trad et al., 2003) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Clarithromycin | Adults with AIDS | 353 | RCR | (Jordan, 1996) | Prophylactic | + | + |
| Adults with AIDS | 312 | RCR | (Holmberg et al., 1998) | Prophylactic | + | + | |
| Adults with advanced AIDS | 530 | RCR | (Fichtenbaum et al., 2000) | Prophylactic | – | – | |
| Clofazimine | Adults with advanced AIDS | 20 | R, DB, PC | (Iroh Tam et al., 2021) | Therapeutic | – | – |
| Diclazuril | Adults with AIDS | 9 | OL | (Connolly et al., 1990) | Therapeutic | – | – |
| 1 | CR | (Menichetti et al., 1991) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| Letrazuril | Adults with advanced AIDS | 1 | CR | (Murdoch et al., 1993) | Therapeutic | + | + |
| 14 | OL | (Harris et al., 1994) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 35 | OL | (Loeb et al., 1995) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 10 | OL | (Blanshard et al., 1997) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| Miltefosine | Malnourished adults with AIDS | 7 | OL | (Sinkala et al., 2011) | Therapeutic | ± | – |
| Nitazoxanide | Adults with advanced AIDS | 12 | OL | (Doumbo et al., 1997) | Therapeutic | ± | ± |
| Adults with AIDS | 66 | R, DB, PC | (Rossignol et al., 1998) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | |
| Immunocompetent adults and children | 99 | R, DB, PC | (Rossignol et al., 2001) | Therapeutic | + | ± | |
| Malnourished HIV-seronegative children | 47 | R, DB, PC | (Amadi et al., 2002) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | |
| Malnourished HIV-seropositive children | 49 | – | – | ||||
| Adults with AIDS | 207 | R, DB, PC | (Zulu et al., 2005) | Therapeutic | – | – | |
| Immunocompetent adults and adolescents | 86 | R, DB, PC | (Rossignol et al., 2006) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Children and adults with AIDS | 357 | CU, OL | (Rossignol, 2006) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | |
| Children with AIDS | 3 | CU, CR | (Abraham et al., 2008) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Children with AIDS | 52 | R, DB, PC | (Amadi et al., 2009) | Therapeutic | – | – | |
| Pediatric solid organ transplant recipients | 6 | RCR | (Krause et al., 2012) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Immunocompetent children | 135 | R, OL, AC, PC | (Hussien et al., 2013) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Immunocompetent adults | 58 | OL | (Ali et al., 2014) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | |
| Adult renal transplant recipients | 13 | RCR | (Bhadauria et al., 2015) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | |
| Immunocompetent children | 60 | R, DB, PC | (Abaza et al., 2016) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Immunocompromised children | 60 | ± | ± | ||||
| Adults on chemotherapy for cancer | 2 | CR | (Demonchy et al., 2021) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | |
| Paromomycin | Adults with AIDS | 12 | RCR | (Gathe et al., 1990) | Therapeutic | ± | ± |
| 5 | CR | (Clezy et al., 1991) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 5 | CR | (Armitage et al., 1992) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 1 | CR | (Danziger et al., 1993) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 7 | RCR | (Fichtenbaum et al., 1993) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 6 | CR | (Wallace et al., 1993) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 24 | OL | (Bissuel et al., 1994) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 35 | OL | (Scaglia et al., 1994) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 10 | R, DB, PC | (White et al., 1994) | Therapeutic | + | + | ||
| 44 | OL | (Flanigan et al., 1996) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 20 | OL | (Blanshard et al., 1997) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 70 | RCR | (Hashmey et al., 1997) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| 35 | R, DB, PC | (Hewitt et al., 2000) | Therapeutic | – | – | ||
| Children on chemotherapy for cancer | 3 | CR | (Trad et al., 2003) | Therapeutic | + | ± | |
| Immunocompetent children | 38 | OL | (Vandenberg et al., 2012) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | |
| 135 | R, OL, AC, PC | (Hussien et al., 2013) | Therapeutic | ± | ± | ||
| Roxithromycin | Adults with AIDS | 24 | OL | (Sprinz et al., 1998) | Therapeutic | + | ± |
| 22 | OL | (Uip et al., 1998) | Therapeutic | + | ± | ||
| Rifabutin | Adults with AIDS | 214 | RCR | (Holmberg et al., 1998) | Prophylactic | + | + |
| Adults with advanced AIDS | 650 | RCR | (Fichtenbaum et al., 2000) | Prophylactic | + | + | |
| Rifaximin | Adults and children infected with HIV (CD4+ cell counts >200/mm3) | 10 | OL | (Amenta et al., 1999) | Therapeutic | + | + |
| Adult solid organ transplant recipient | 1 | CR | (Burdese et al., 2005) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Adults with AIDS (CD4+ cell counts <50 cells/mm3) | 5 | CR | (Gathe et al., 2008) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Spiramycin | Adult with AIDS | 1 | N of 1 trial | (Woolf et al., 1987) | Therapeutic | – | – |
| Immunocompromised adults | 37 | CU, OL | (Moskovitz et al., 1988) | Therapeutic | + | ± | |
| Immunocompetent infants | 44 | DB, PC | (Saez-Llorens et al., 1989) | Therapeutic | + | + | |
| Malnourished infants | 39 | R, DB, PC | (Wittenberg et al., 1989) | Therapeutic | – | – | |
| Adults with AIDS | 31 | CR | (Weikel et al., 1991) | Therapeutic | – | – | |
1. AC, active-controlled; DB, double-blind; CU, compassionate use; CR, case report; DC, dose comparison; OL, open-label; PC, placebo-controlled; R, randomized; RCR, retrospective case review.
2. “+” = complete resolution; “-” = no demonstrable activity; “±” = partial resolution or relapse after treatment discontinuation.