As the most common protozoal infection in the United States, giardiasis is more common in northern states and afflicts children under the age of 10 years and adults 35-44 years most frequently. [1] Infections are most common in late summer, when people ingest the cysts by drinking contaminated water. Yes, even those crystal clear mountain streams can harbor Giardia. (However, in glacial run-off above the treeline, the risk of giardia is greatly diminished.)
The
cysts are ingested and activated by stomach acid. They develop into
trophozoites, attach to the intestinal walls, and make more cysts to
infect others. These new cysts then are excreted with feces. The cysts
can also be passed by infected food handlers or in swimming pools and
recreational waters. Even chlorinated swimming pools don't eliminate
the risk as it requires about 45 minutes of exposure to chlorine before
the cysts are killed.
One to two weeks, sometimes more, after ingesting the cysts, the following symptoms begin:
- diarrhea. It's described as quite foul, watery and greasy, yellow, and frothy--full of bubbles, but without any blood or mucus.[2]
- burping. There is a great deal of burping, and the burps taste like sulfur.
- gas. There is likewise a lot of gas.
- bloating. The abdomen is rather swollen.[3]
Alternative treatments not approved by the FDA include albendazole, 400 mg per day for 5 days and mebendazole (no dosing regimen provided). A tincture from Japanese barberry or Oregon grape may also be effective.[5]
References:
[1] Julia E. Painter, et al., "Giardiasis Surveillance--U.S. 2011-2012," Surveillance Summaries, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 May 2015 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6403a2.htm (accessed 3 March 2020).
[2] David Werner, Where There Is No Doctor, 145.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Joseph Alton, Alton's Antibiotics, 176; Cynthia Koelker, Armageddon Medicine, 173.
[5] Stephen Buhner, Herbal Antibiotics, 164.
10 june 2020
Is there an explanation of why people who lived in former times could drink water from streams, ponds, and rivers and, at least, appear to be unaffected?
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good question that I can't research right now (vacation!). But I have a couple of ideas. The first is, some people did actually get sick, they just didn't know what it was and eventually it went away on its own or with whatever herbs mom or grandma used. The second is that Western medicine, particularly in the US and all the advances in clean water treatment have made us Americans particularly fragile when it comes to pathogens. My children and those of friends have served missions all over the world. The Americans would be advised to avoid or forbidden to drink local tap water or eat certain foods because their immune systems couldn't handle the potential threats, while the local missionaries didn't have any such restrictions or cautions. And a third reason would be everything mentioned by AnnD below.
DeleteI remember when I was a Girl Scout, many many years ago, almost 50 years ago. When we went camping in Borego State park, S. California, we drank the water straight from the stream beds. It was supposedly clean then. Not any more...I wouldn't touch it unless boiled or bleached and filtered. Hmm, pollution, larger population, people not caring enough...Ponds and rivers, now, too many amoebas or other parasites. I don't see how people still swim in them, always hearing in the news, some one coming down with something that sickens him/her.
ReplyDelete