​Infectious Diseases and Miicrobiology - Giardiasis ( Giardia lamblia)

​Infectious Diseases and Miicrobiology - Giardiasis ( Giardia lamblia) 
A flagellate protozoan that can take the shape of a cyst or trophozoite; the cyst is the infectious form.
 Cyst ingestion is the mode of transmission, which can happen by oral-anal contact (homosexuals), fecal-oral dissemination (daycare facilities), or fecal pollution of water (community epidemiology epidemics). A typical source of infection for campers is mountain streams contaminated by animal waste from beavers, muskrats, people, and other animals.

Usually, 1-4 weeks after exposure, symptoms start to show. The illness might be asymptomatic, cause moderate watery diarrhea, or even worse, cause a malabsorption syndrome. Those without symptoms may develop into carriers and pass cysts in their stool. Abdominal cramps, bad-smelling feces, gas, and steatorrhea (fat in the stool) are the hallmarks of malabsorption syndrome, which can linger up to four weeks.

Trophozoites use their ventral sucking disk to cling to epithelial cells in the duodenum and jejunum. They do not penetrate, but they do prevent absorption—particularly of fat.

Four-nucleated cysts are observed in the produced stool of carriers who do not exhibit any symptoms. Diarrheal stool contains trophhozoites, which are pear-shaped bacteria with two nuclei, four flagella, and a ventral sucking disk. In addition to the string test, which is used to extract trophozoites from the duodenum in cases where stool tests yield negative results, there are several fecal antigen assays available.

Treatments such as metronidazole, furazolidone, or albendazole are frequently employed. Treatment with pomomycin is advised for pregnant patients who exhibit symptoms. In order to prevent infection, one must practice good hygiene, educate others about how infections spread, and take steps to filter, iodinate, or boil water from mountain streams.