giardiasis
Sign in to saveGiardiasis is a parasitic disease caused by the protist enteropathogen Giardia duodenalis (also known as G. lamblia and G. intestinalis), especially common in children and travelers. Infected individuals experience steatorrhea, a type of diarrhea with fatty sticky stool; abdominal pain, weight loss, and weakness due to dehydration and malabsorption. Less common symptoms include skin rash, hives and joint swelling. Symptoms usually begin one to three weeks after exposure and, without treatment, may last two to six weeks or longer. Some infected individuals experience mild or no symptoms and rem
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Giardiasis
- Medical condition (new).synonyms
- Beaver fever, giardia
- Medical condition (new).image
- Giardia lamblia SEM 8698 lores.jpg
- Medical condition (new).image_size
- 300px
- Medical condition (new).caption
- Giardia cell viewed with scanning electron microscope
- Medical condition (new).field
- Infectious disease, gastroenterology
- Medical condition (new).symptoms
- Diarrhoea, abdominal pain, weight loss, nausea
- Medical condition (new).onset
- 1 to 3 weeks after exposure
- Medical condition (new).causes
- Giardia duodenalis spread mainly through contaminated food or water
- Medical condition (new).risks
- Hypogammaglobulinemia
- Medical condition (new).diagnosis
- Stool testing
- Medical condition (new).differential
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Medical condition (new).prevention
- Improved sanitation
- Medical condition (new).treatment
- Antiprotozoal medications
- Medical condition (new).medication
- Tinidazole, metronidazole
- Medical condition (new).frequency
- Up to 7% (developed world), up to 30% (developing world)
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
26 sectionsContents
- Signs and symptoms
- Cause
- Risk factors
- Transmission
- Pathophysiology
- Antigenic variation and immune evasion
- Host defence
- Natural barriers
- Nitric oxide production
- Innate immune system
- Lectin pathway of complement
- The classical pathway of complement
- Adaptive immune system
- Antibodies
- T-cells
- Diagnosis
- Prevention
- Vaccine
- Treatment
- Prognosis
- Epidemiology
- Research
- Other animals
- One Health Perspective
- References
- External links
Giardiasis is a parasitic disease caused by the protist enteropathogen Giardia duodenalis (also known as G. lamblia and G. intestinalis), especially common in children and travelers. Infected individuals experience steatorrhea, a type of diarrhea with fatty sticky stool; abdominal pain, weight loss, and weakness due to dehydration and malabsorption. Less common symptoms include skin rash, hives and joint swelling. Symptoms usually begin one to three weeks after exposure and, without treatment, may last two to six weeks or longer. Some infected individuals experience mild or no symptoms and remain symptom-free even if the infection persists for a long time.
Giardiasis spreads via the fecal-oral route, when Giardia cysts excreted with feces contaminate food or water that is later consumed orally. The disease can also spread between people and between people and animals, mainly via pets. Cysts may survive for nearly three months in cold water.