Published Apr 02, 2026 | 7:10 AM ⚊ Updated Apr 02, 2026 | 7:10 AM
Saba Azad (inset) recently shared that she was hospitalised with a parasitic infection and lost 4 kg in just two weeks.
Synopsis: Actor Saba Azad was recently hospitalised with cyclosporiasis, a rare infection caused by a parasite called Cyclospora cayetanensis. Doctors say it spreads through contaminated fresh produce such as leafy vegetables or water, not from person to person, and can cause diarrhoea, dehydration, and rapid weight loss. The infection is not very common, but it is treatable once identified.
Actor and musician Saba Azad’s recent hospitalisation has drawn attention to an unfamiliar infection with a difficult name: cyclosporiasis.
Many posts on Instagram and X have sought more details on this infection. South First spoke to a few health experts to understand the illness Saba Azad has spoken about.
Speaking to South First, Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, a gastroenterologist from Kochi, explained that “Cyclospora is a single-celled organism which can exist in two different life stages.”
The parasite itself is called Cyclospora, while the illness it causes is known as cyclosporiasis.
Dr Jayadevan added that it can also occur by drinking water from natural streams or areas with an unclean water supply.
Agreeing, Dr Gopalakrishna, a physician and paediatrician from Bengaluru, said it is always advised to soak fresh fruits or leafy greens in water, add a spoon of salt or baking soda, and leave them for at least 20 minutes before use.
Saba Azad, the partner of actor Hrithik Roshan, recently shared that she had been diagnosed with a parasitic infection caused by Cyclospora cayetanensis. This led to her being hospitalised and losing 4 kg in just two weeks.
Describing it as the “worst 14 days” of her life, she said the illness struck unexpectedly despite her habit of eating home-cooked food and carrying her own water bottle.
She wrote that the infection hit at one of the busiest times of the year, leaving her so weak that she could barely walk.
“One day I’m training twice a day, doing pull-ups and lifting heavy, and the next I’m half my size, without the strength to lift a toothpick, let alone weights,” she said.
Using her experience as a warning, she urged people to be extra careful about food hygiene, especially with raw vegetables and salad leaves.
“Please, for the love of your gut, wash your salad leaves and veg like your life depends on it,” she wrote, adding that she now uses baking soda and a vegetable wash.
Dr Rajeev explained that a key feature of this organism is that it does not spread from person to person, but through the consumption of specific food and water, as explained earlier.
Dr Jayadevan said healthy people can also develop the infection if they have had little prior exposure to the organism.
“Cyclospora can infect healthy individuals who have limited prior exposure to this organism. For example, when people from Western nations come to Nepal for trekking, they occasionally pick up the infection because they have no prior immunity or exposure, as the environments they grew up in were free of such microorganisms.”
Symptoms of this infection include watery diarrhoea, which causes dehydration, and weight loss because it affects the intestine’s ability to absorb food. “In people with compromised immune systems, it causes a prolonged infection,” Dr Rajeev added.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, says cases are reported every year, and the infection is marked by watery diarrhoea, loss of appetite, weight loss, cramping, bloating, nausea, and fatigue.
It is not very common in the everyday sense, doctors said. Most diarrhoeal illnesses are caused by more familiar viruses and bacteria. But Cyclospora is not rare enough to be dismissed. It is well recognised in outbreak investigations, especially when contaminated produce is suspected.
Doctors said the illness can be harder to identify than a routine stomach infection. This is partly because the test is not always part of standard screening.
“It is easily treatable once diagnosed, but the diagnosis may be missed initially because routine stool testing does not detect Cyclospora. Only when specifically suspected are confirmatory tests ordered, and these can be expensive,” Dr Jayadevan said.
This aligns with guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says identification of Cyclospora requires special laboratory tests that are not part of routine stool testing, and that doctors may need to specifically request testing for it. The agency also said the infection is treatable with antibiotics.
The symptoms can be more draining than people expect. “Cyclospora produces watery diarrhoea, causing dehydration, and weight loss because it affects the intestine’s ability to absorb food. In people with compromised immune systems, it causes a prolonged infection,” Dr Jayadevan said.
