Lambiosis (giardiasis) is a disease that almost every child struggles with, although it also affects adults. The disease is caused by a parasite - lamblia intestinalis. It can be found in toilets, sandboxes and even swimming pool water. What are the symptoms of giardiasis? How is her treatment going?

Lambiosis (giardiasis)is quite common in children, and itssymptomscan be confusing.

Tomek was five years old when he started to change from a cheerful and cheerful boy into a wicked man and a whim. There were days when he didn't eat a normal meal, but he always craved sweetness. From time to time he complained of a stinging sensation in his stomach, but was unable to show where it was pricking him. "It hurts me in general and only a little," he said. It happened once, sometimes 2-3 times a day, but then it was quiet for the next few days.

One morning Tom was "meditating" on a bowl of cereal again. Mom looked at him more closely than usual and was terrified. His son's features sharpened, his complexion was paper-pale, and he had great dark circles under his eyes. She told the pediatrician about her findings and the baby was carefully examined. "There are no characteristic symptoms of the disease that I can tell," said the doctor. - Let's get him blood and urine tests, maybe the situation will become clear.
The results were within the normal range. Stalemate! Suddenly he is enlightened: he goes to kindergarten, maybe he haslamblie ?

Lambiosis (giardiasis) - symptoms

Lambliosisis difficult to diagnose. Most patients do not feel any discomfort and do not know that parasites have settled in their small intestine, mainly in the duodenum (sometimes also in the gallbladder and bile ducts). Only10 percentof all infections are ailments, but they are not very characteristic and do not appear systematically. There are days when nothing disturbing happens, and this lulls our vigilance.
The lamblia infection can be proved by:

  • diffuse abdominal pain, most often in the right hypochondrium, after eating (but not necessarily)
  • headaches
  • feeling tired
  • insomnia
  • foul-smelling stools with undigested food residues
  • rashes
  • low fever
  • diarrhea

Giardiasis can also be suspected when a child who has no appetite eats very eagerly everything that is sweet and, if only allowed, could eat onlycandy and chocolate .

Giardiasis (giardiasis) - pathways of infection

Infection occurs through the ingestion when:

  • we eat products contaminated with lamblas (e.g. flies are responsible for spreading them)
  • we drink contaminated water
  • the parasite can also be transferred to the digestive system on unwashed hands, e.g. after leaving the toilet or coming into contact with infected animals.

Lamblie - characteristic

This protozoan from thegroup of flagellateshas a pear-shaped shape and four pairs of flagella allowing rapid movement and a suction cup with which it attaches to the mucosa of the host's (animal or human) digestive tract . There it feeds and multiplies, reducing the gut's absorbent surface, which impairs the absorption of nutrients. From time to time, some of the parasites transform into oval cysts, which are excreted with the faeces.

As lamblas reproduce by division, their population increases very quickly. The infection also spreads rapidly and can occur simultaneously into many people in the family . The fight against the parasite is made difficult by itsviability(e.g. in water at 18 degrees Celsius it can survive up to three months) and - often -resistance to pharmacological agents , especially if the child has had the parasites several times in a short period of time.

You must do it

Giardiasis (giardiasis) - prevention

To avoid lamblia infection, you have tofollow the hygiene rules , that is:

  • wash their hands frequently and thoroughly and teach them not to neglect this activity before eating, after leaving the toilet, after playing in the sandbox and with animals;
  • wash fruits and vegetables, including those that will be peeled;
  • do not drink water from an unknown source, e.g. wells drilled contrary to applicable regulations, city fountains, fountains and any places where there is no information about whether the water is fit for consumption;
  • keep the toilet clean - for disinfection use preparations containing chlorine compounds (e.g. domestos), you can also use ordinary linen bleach (e.g. ace) or a chloramine solution intended for water treatment in aquariums ( available for purchase at pet stores);
  • change bed linen and towels often;
  • try to keep children from sleeping in the same bed and bathing together, especially ifone of them suffers from giardiasis.

Treatment of giardiasis (giardiasis) - diagnosis

Lamblia infection is found aftermicroscopic examination of the stool for the presence of parasite cysts(however, it is not worth doing it prophylactically, because not at every stage of the parasite's development you can find its presence in the stool) . Sometimes freshly collected bile and the content of the duodenum are examined.

Treatment of giardiasis (giardiasis) - treatment

Based on the results, the doctor selects the treatment method and the dose of the drug. Do not give any pharmaceuticals on your own or on the advice of another child's mother. The doctor also decides about the treatment of members of the patient's immediate family. Antiparasitic preparations put a heavy strain on the liver and, if there are no absolute indications, gambliosis is not treated.

After the pharmacological treatment, it is necessary to repeat the stool test to be sure that we have successfully got rid of the glaucoma. If not all of them are poisoned, the disease will come back again.

A diet devoid of carbohydrates , and above all sweets, may also be helpful in the fight against giardiasis. Lamblia fatten on them and multiply very quickly.

Why children get giardiasis

Even if they know the hygiene rules, they don't always follow them. Besides, they often do not realize the danger: they do not deny themselves the pleasure of stroking a stray dog, they do not always notice that a fly has been sitting on the sandwich for a while, they do not give up playing in the sandbox, even if they know that it is sometimes a toilet for animals.
Infection with giardiasis is favored by the use ofpublic and collective toilets(e.g. at school, kindergarten, boarding school, camping). It is enough for one preschooler to be the carrier of the parasite, and probably many of his friends will be infected soon (by using the same toilet, which is not washed after each use). And each of them may react differently to the disease.

The article was published in the monthly "Zdrowie"

Category:

Parasitic diseases