A survey of risk factors for cryptosporidiosis in New York City: drinking water and other exposures

We conducted a survey to determine the prevalence of known and theoretical exposure risks for cryptosporidiosis among selected New York City residents. Subjects were recruited from outpatients attending either a practice for persons with HIV infection (n = 160), or other medical practices (n = 153), at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. Despite a greater concern for waterborne infection, 82 % of HIV-infected subjects reported consuming municipal tap water compared to 69 % of subjects from other medical clinics (OR 2.1, 95 % CI 1.2-3.6, P = 0.006). Although 18% and 31% of subjects, respectively, denied any tap water consumption at home or work, all but one from each cohort responded positively to having at least one possible alternate source of tap water ingestion such as using tap water to brush teeth or drinking tap water offered in a restaurant. 78 % and 76% of subjects, respectively, had at least one potential risk for exposure other than municipal water consumption, such as swimming in pools or contact with animals. Our findings indicate that it is possible to stratify the population into subsets by the amount of tap water consumed. This suggests that an observational epidemiologic study of the risk of contracting cryptosporidiosis from everyday tap water consumption is feasible.