Synonyms
Giardioose, Lamblia dumbbell
What is giardiasis?
Giardiasis is a common infectious diarrhea caused by the parasite Giardia lamblia. This parasite occurs worldwide and is transmitted mainly through poor food hygiene by ingesting contaminated water or food. Giardiasis is also known under the name Lamblia dysentery. It usually causes unpleasant, long-lasting diarrhea, which is not life-threatening in most cases.
Causes of Giardiasis
Giardiasis, a common diarrhea caused by the parasite Giardia lamblia, is usually transmitted by poor food hygiene. Giardiasis can affect not only humans but also animals. The parasite occurs worldwide, but it is more prevalent in the tropics and subtropics due to poor hygiene measures.
This is why people returning home from travel are particularly affected by giardiasis. The parasite occurs worldwide, but is more prevalent in the tropics and subtropics due to poor hygiene measures. Therefore, giardiasis also affects travel returnees in particular.
The parasite Giardia lamblia occurs in two forms. One is an active trophozoite and the other is an infectious cyst. Affected humans and animals excrete the parasite in its cyst form with the stool.
The cysts can remain in the stool for weeks or months. This means that the giardiasis is contagious via the stool for a long time. About ten cysts are sufficient for the parasite to be transmitted. Therefore, good hand and food hygiene should be ensured.
Recognizing Giardiasis
Acute giardiasis may typically present with the following symptoms: These symptoms usually last two to three weeks. However, they can then become chronic and cause existing, recurring diarrhea. This can be accompanied by deficiency symptoms and weight loss.
An infection with this parasite can also be completely without symptoms. Worms in the intestine can also cause similar symptoms.
- Oily, foamy diarrhea Since an infection with Giardia lamblia affects the small intestine, proteins and fats can no longer be sufficiently absorbed into the body from food.
They remain in the stool, which makes it look greasy and foamy.
- Cramp-like abdominal pain The parasite can also infect the gallbladder. In this case it usually causes cramp-like abdominal pain in the upper abdomen.
- Flatulence
- Loss of appetite, nausea
- Vomiting
Affected people with symptoms of diarrhoea do not usually receive a diagnosis with a comprehensive pathogen search. In most cases the diarrhoea stops by itself.
However, if it turns out in the doctor-patient conversation that the person concerned was abroad, a pathogen diagnosis is often considered. For this purpose, a stool sample from the patient is examined microscopically for cysts on up to three different days. If there are no cysts in the stool, but the patient does not respond to the therapy and continues to have diarrhoea, a colonoscopy with samples taken from the intestine is recommended. Here, the Giardia lamblia can be detected in its active form as trophozoite.
