Look What I Got On Summer Vacation – Giardia!
Discussion
People often don’t think that developed countries have parasitic diseases but this is not true. The major parasitic infections endemic in the United States can be thought of as:
Intestinal parasitic infections
Seen throughout the US but especially in the northern states during the summer
Often occur through recreational water use
Cryptosprodiosis, Dientamoebiasis and Giardiasis are the most common.
Neglected tropical diseases
Seen especially in the southern states (especially Texas) and are linked to extreme poverty
Chagas disease, Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Toxocariasis, and Toxoplasmosis are the most common.
Learning Point
Giardia intestinalis (also known as Giardia lambia or Giardia duodenalis) is considered a zoonotic disease sometimes known as Beaver Fever. It was one of the first organisms Antonie van Leewenhoek saw under the microscope. It is a flagllated protozoan found globally that usually affects the cells in the duodenum and jejunum. It is most commonly found in children ages 1-9 years old. The number of cases is slightly decreasing in last few years in the U.S. with about 16-19,000 cases depending on the year. Cases cluster often in the northern states in the summer. Contaminated water and fecal-oral contamination of the cysts spread the disease. The cysts are difficult to kill as they are chlorine tolerant. Cysts can be killed by boiling water for more than 1 minute, or using a filter with an absolute pore size of 1 micron or smaller to remo...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: pediatriceducationmin Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news
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