Molecular Characteristics of Cryptosporidium spp. in Human Cases in Five Finnish Hospital Districts during 2021

Aims of this study were to characterise the species and subtype distribution of Cryptosporidium infections in Five Finnish hospital districts during 2021. This dataset contains data on 60 clinical Cryptosporidium cases from the hospital districts of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Vaasa, Kymenlaakso, South Karelia, and Central Finland. Data includes patient information from the Finnish Infectious Diseases Register (FIDR) (age, sex, hospital district, sampling date), as well as species and subtype and identification method of samples received. Over 70% of samples were identified as Cryptosporidium parvum and 20% as C. mortiferum (previously known as Cryptosporidium chipmunk genotype I), which has not been identified in Finland before. Two cases of Cryptosporidium hominis were identified. C. parvum infections were associated with the Vaasa district (P = 0.034), while C. mortiferum was associated with Helsinki and Uusimaa district (P = 0.015). Additionally, C. mortiferum infections were more common in over 50-year old patients. The C. parvum subtype IIaA15G2R1 and the C. mortiferum subtype XIVaA20G2T1 were the most common subtypes identified.