Prevalence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia in Water Samples from Jeddah and Makkah Cities

Water contamination by Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium is one of the causes of diarrhoea throughout the world.  A total of 161 and 84 samples were collected from Jeddah and Makkah cities, respectively.  Each sample was concentrated by double centrifugation and the sediment was examined as a wet smear and after staining with Trichrome and Kinyoun stains.  The results showed that 56 (35%) and 1 (0.62 %) samples of Jeddah were positive for the oocyst of Cryptosporidium and cyst of Giardia, whereas only 21 (25%) and 2 (2.4 %) samples of Makkah showed positivity for oocysts and cyst of these parasites. Overall Cryptosporidium contamination in bottled water and water from filling stations was 6.8% and 17.4%, respectively. Maximum contamination for Cryptosporidium was recorded in tap water which was 51% and 25% in Jeddah and Makkah, respectively