- What is it: A water-bourne infection.
- How is it caused: Swallowing water from swimming pools, recreational water parks, lakes and streams. Eating uncooked food that is contaminated with it. Hand to Mouth- if its been infected with it. Close contact to infected people and animals.
- Symptoms: lack of appetite, diarrhea, stomach cramps, low fever. Other symptoms can include: nausea, vomiting, malabsorption and dehydration, ....sunshine and rainbows all around. Symptoms can last for a few weeks but can also come and go sporadically for up to a month. Can be worse for people with poor immune systems.
- Of note: It is resistant to many chlorine based disinfectants and not all filters can remove it. This parasite can survive for a long time and at varying temps though it can be killed off by freezing or boiling.
- Treatment:
-Anti-motility agents. These medications slow down the movements of your intestines and increase fluid absorption to relieve diarrhea and restore normal stools. Anti-motility drugs: loperamide and its derivatives (Imodium A-D, others). Talk with your doctor before taking any of these medications.
-Fluid replacement. Oral or intravenous replacement of fluids and electrolytes — minerals, such as sodium, potassium and calcium, that maintain the balance of fluids in your body — lost to diarrhea.
-Antiretroviral therapies. If you have HIV/AIDS, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can reduce the viral load in your body, boosting immune response. Restoring your immune system to a certain level may completely resolve symptoms of cryptosporidiosis.
- What can prevent this: Good hygiene, thoroughly washing food with uncontaminated water, avoiding uncooked foods from known contaminated areas, purify drinking water, avoiding fecal exposure, washing hands after dealing with animals, bottled water for drinking.
- What is it: A water-borne infection.
- How is it caused: Parasites in the water. Swallowing water contaminated with giardia, eating food that has either been handled by someone with giardia or washed with water infected with giardia (cooking food kills it). Person to Person- if your hands become contaminated by fecal matter (ie: through changing diapers).
- Symptoms (appearing 1-2 weeks after the fact):
- Of note: -Can catch it from drinking water from sources such as- backwater rivers and lakes, municiple water supplies, swimming po ols, wells and whirlpool spas.
- Treatment:
-Tinidazole (Tindamax) Tinidazole works as well as metronidazole and has many of the same side effects, but it can be given in a single dose.
-Nitazoxanide (Alinia) Because it comes in a liquid form, nitazoxanide may be easier for children to swallow. Side effects may include nausea, flatulence, yellow eyes and brightly colored yellow urine.
**no consistently recommended meds for giardiasis in pregnancy due to potential for adverse drug effects to the baby
- What can prevent this: