To accurately establish a disease such as giardiasis, the only reliable method is used - analysis of giardia. How to take it? In this case, laboratory diagnostics come to the rescue, allowing you to reliably identify the presence of this disease, since there are no specific signs of this pathology. Only correctly conducted analyzes can give an accurate result. Consider this process in more detail.
What are lamblia?
These are the simplest unicellular microorganisms that live in the digestive tract of the human body. The transmission of this pathogen is carried out by the fecal-oral route. The shell (cyst) of it is very resistant to external influences, so the intestinal lamblia is quite viable in the environment. Since the infection of a healthy person is carried out from the carrier of the pathogen, the cyst is often detected in the feces. Around the world, 500 million people fall ill with this disease annually, of which 200 million are newly diagnosed patients.
How is giardiasis manifested?
This disease is often asymptomatic. An infected person is not worried, and clinical signs are not manifested in any way. The affected intestines can be disturbed by abdominal pain, loose stools, rumbling and flatulence. From the gastrointestinal tract, this ailment is manifested by poorly treatable dermatitis, eczema, urticaria. Less commonly, giardiasis affects the gallbladder. Most often, a person is worried about pain in the right ribs, an unpleasant aftertaste in the mouth, etc. The intestinal giardia affects the child much more often. This is explained by the fact that children rarely follow the rules of personal hygiene.
Diagnosis of giardiasis
Diagnosed with this disease is quite complicated. Thanks to laboratory methods, you can directly detect the pathogen itself, its DNA, antigen and antibodies, which begin to circulate in the blood in response to the penetration of this microorganism into the human body. Analysis of lamblia: how to take and what is taken in this case? To this end, feces, blood and bile are examined. Each diagnostic method has its own strengths and weaknesses. In order for the result to be the most informative, it is necessary to properly prepare for the delivery of biological material.
Feces
This is the most common and easily accessible diagnostic option. Analysis for lamblia how to take? For this, in the morning the biological material is collected in a container or other clean container. The sample is taken from different places of feces, and it must be delivered to the hospital as soon as possible. If cysts are detected in the feces, then the diagnosis of giardiasis will be confirmed. Live lamblia in biological material can be detected only if no more than 20 minutes have passed after its collection.
For the analysis to be carried out, three grams of feces are required, and it is best if it is liquid. If the collection of feces was carried out more than four hours ago, then the effectiveness of the study is significantly reduced. If you can’t deliver the sample quickly to the hospital, you can use a container with a special preservative, which is taken in the laboratory in advance.
Analysis of feces for giardia is not always reliable. This is explained by the fact that parasites that enter the intestine develop intensively only after 2 weeks, so during this time it is not possible to detect them. The accuracy of this analysis is only 50-70%. For greater effectiveness, it is recommended to take feces four times with intervals between analyzes of three days.
Enterotest
This is a new diagnostic method that is becoming increasingly popular. Its implementation is that a person swallows a gelatin capsule containing a nylon thread. Once in the intestines, the capsule begins to dissolve. Giardia sticks to this thread, which leaves the body with feces after 2 hours, and it is examined.
Lamblia blood test
With the help of such immunological diagnostics, specific antibodies in the blood are detected that help fight various microbes. Such antibodies are special proteins that destroy harmful viruses and bacteria in the human body, they are abbreviated lg. In the blood of a person infected with lamblia, IgM antibodies begin to appear, which after a while are replaced by IgG antibodies. If a blood test showed the presence of lgM, then this indicates that the pathological process proceeds in the acute phase. IgG antibodies indicate a chronic process.
A blood test for lamblia is given in the morning on an empty stomach. 10 hours before this you can’t eat anything, it is also not recommended to drink tea, coffee, juices, alcohol. Blood is taken from a vein. If the patient takes drugs to suppress the function of the immune system, he must inform the laboratory assistant and doctor about this.
Such an immunological diagnosis cannot be called sufficiently effective, since antibodies to giardia completely disappear from the blood after 2-6 months. In addition, class M and G immunoglobulins can appear in response to the ingestion of other bacteria and parasites.
Giardiasis in children
This disease is very common among children, as they like to bite nails or caps of pens that are infected with giardia. Also, this pathogen is often found in infants due to the insufficiently developed protective mechanism of the gastrointestinal tract. Giardia, penetrating the small intestine, violate the integrity of its mucous membrane, resulting in inflammation. All this is accompanied by cramping, indigestion, poor absorption of vitamins and nutrients.
The disease in young children begins as an acute intestinal infection, accompanied by a slight rise in temperature, diarrhea, and vomiting. Chronic infection is manifested as follows: bloating and rumbling, thick tongue coating, pale skin, alternating constipation and diarrhea. There is increased fatigue, nervous irritability, irritability.
If parents noticed such symptoms, then it is necessary to show the child a doctor who will prescribe an appropriate examination. An analysis of giardia in a child consists in examining his feces for cysts, but this method is not 100% informative, because microorganisms cannot always be detected. A more expensive analysis is the ELISA method, when antibodies to the pathogen are determined in venous blood, but they can be detected only three weeks after infection. To make the test for giardia in a child more effective, experts recommend combining several diagnostic methods.
Where is the test for the pathogen taken?
Laboratory research is a fairly accurate method of medical diagnosis. Analyzes of feces, urine, blood and scrapings of the skin can not only determine the general state of health of the patient, but also to identify the pathological condition of various organs.
Where to pass the analysis for lamblia? This can be done in laboratories and private clinics, as well as in municipal clinics. In this case, the patient can choose which study he is best to pass.
Conclusion
Thus, if the doctor has prescribed an analysis for lamblia, how to take it, he must also explain, because in some cases this requires special preparation. To identify the completeness of the picture of the disease, the doctor can prescribe a comprehensive diagnosis. Do not neglect this, because timely treatment helps to recover without complications.