SAVED
File name .JPG
File alt. text
Image should be px wide x px tall.
Select Image
home - Small Bowel - Small Bowel Infections - Giardia Written by Dr Sebastian Zeki

Giardia

n G. lamblia contains an immunodominant antigen which is a heat shock protein; trophozoites express this antigen when put into media that resembles the constituents of the human gastrointestinal tract.The surface protein VSP engenders an antibody response; one study showed that two distinct portions of VSP, a variable N terminal region and a more conserved C terminal region, stimulate differing antibody responses at different stages of infection .Chronic exposure gives partial immunity as per a) Children >adults in endemic areasb) Travellers> residents in endemic areas ....for acute giardiasisMore severe and longer disease if IgA deficiencies Symptoms: As acute but usually loose stools rather than diarrhoea Giardiasis Can develop chronic without previous symptoms 40% Exposure Chronic giardiasis Acute giardiasis Symtpoms:Diarrhea that is sudden in onset and may be initially watery — 90 %.Malaise in 85 % .Steatorrhea in 70 %.Adominal cramps and bloating in 70 %.Flatulence in 75 %.Nausea in 70 %.Weight loss in 65 %.Vomiting in 30 %.Fever -occurs in only 10 to 15 % of patients and may be unrelated to giardiasis. Asymptomatic infection — Occurs in 60% of exposees.Cyst carriage can last >6/12. Treatments:Inidazole.Metronidazole.Quinacrine.Furazolidone.Nitazoxanide.Bacitracin. Diagnostic Methods:Stool microscopy-Loose for trophozoites, formed for cysts (90% sensitivity with 3 stool samples).Immunoassays (95% Se and Sp) including ELISAand non-enzymatic immunoassays.Duodenal aspirates or biopsies , serology, culture and PCR are not used or not useful. Immune mechanisms may dictate the chronicity of giardiasis.........

Related Stories

•Incidence and Outcomes of Neutropenic Enterocolitis Post-stem Cell Transplant for Hematological Malignancies: A Retrospective Study in Australia

•Hypoxia-inducible factor 2alpha promotes protective Th2 cell responses during intestinal helminth infection

•Isolation and characterization of the virulent porcine epidemic diarrhea virus strain CHGS20 in China

•Morphology and molecular phylogeny of two bat trematodes from the taxonomically problematic genus Paralecithodendrium (Lecithodendriidae, Digenea)

•Coinfection of Klebsiella oxytoca and Granulicatella adiacens promoting fatal fibrinonecrotic enteritis in a red footed-tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonaria)