Giardiasis is a parasitic intervention that causes digestive upsets. It is provoked by the appearance of intestinal lamblia. The main clinical symptoms accompanying giardiasis are abdominal pain , irregular stools, nausea, and flatulence. Also, with giardiasis, an allergic reaction, intoxication and neurotic syndrome can occur. To confirm the diagnosis, feces, ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), PCR (polymerase chain reaction), as well as a biopsy of the obtained material are examined. After confirming the diagnosis, a special antiparasitic therapy is carried out, and the intake of enzymes and sorbents is also prescribed.
In this article, we consider lamblia cysts. What it is will be explained below.
Description of the disease
Giardiasis is an infection that affects the intestines, caused by simple organisms - giardia, located in the small intestine. For the first time, pathogens were found and described by a doctor from Russia D.F. A lambre, by whose name the parasite itself and the disease accompanying its appearance, were named. Giardiasis is a very common occurrence. So, among adults living in developed countries, this phenomenon occurs in 5 percent, in developing countries - up to 15 percent. More often they become ill children in organized groups (kindergarten, for example). Their number can grow up to 40 percent of the infested. Giardiasis is studied by pediatricians, parasitologists and gastroenterologists.
Reasons for the appearance
Lamblia, from the point of view of biology, are unicellular, protozoan, microscopic parasites belonging to the class of flagella. They parasitize in the intestines in two forms: vegetative as trophozoites and spore like cysts. Giardia is fed by the absorption of digestion products by the whole body. Propagated by division occurring every 12 hours. The habitat of trophozoites is the upper part of the small intestine. Giardia cysts live in the large intestine. However, they can stay and be viable outside the body for a long time.
An infected person can spread mature lamblia cysts. It is also impossible to exclude the possibility of infection from pets that may be carriers of Giardia. Many insects can also be mechanical carriers of cysts. Invasion occurs by food and water, as well as by household. Risk factors include boiled water, unwashed hands and food without proper handling, public utensils, and land infected with cysts.
With Giardia cysts, the causes, symptoms and treatment are often interrelated.
Giardia cysts
Common parasites (in medicine, lamblia are called "giardia"), doctors find quite often. According to statistics, giardiasis is found in 25% of the population. What is it - lamblia cysts? The parasitic unicellular microorganism has two varieties (life forms).
Allocate a passive (cyst) form. The lamblia, which is in this life cycle, does not have the ability to move, it is surrounded by a reliable shell. Thanks to her, cystolamblia calmly tolerates being outside a satisfying and warm body.
Giardia in the form of cysts together with excrement leave the human body. They stay in the environment until they reach the next owner. They are found in chlorinated water, standing bodies of water (ponds, lakes), in the soil cover.
The active form of giardia is trophozoite. After the penetration of cysts into the body, the membrane becomes superfluous and dissolves, and in the lamblia begins another vital stage - the active one.
Manifestations in children
Children under the age of ten are at increased risk of infection. Also, degeneration, genetic abnormalities of the gallbladder, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, protein diet, etc. are factors predisposing to the appearance of Giardia. The peak of invasiveness is called spring and summer.
Giardiasis is dangerous because parasites use substances necessary for normal functioning and human activity as food. Therefore, for children this disease is especially dangerous, since the children's body is in an active stage of development. Giardia can stop the growth of a child due to a lack of nutrients. It is believed that Giardia cysts (what it is, we explained) not only live in the intestines, but also enter the blood, liver and gall bladder. However, studies refute this fact.
Types of Giardiasis
When ingested, giardia cysts rush to the duodenum 12 and pass there into the form of trophozoites. After this, the parasites attach to the walls of the small intestine, causing damage and irritation of the nerve endings, which significantly disrupts the absorption of nutrients. This can cause the development of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, such as duodenitis and enteritis, dysbiosis and endogenous intoxication. Against the background of a general weakening of the body, infection with salmonellosis, yersiniosis and dysentery can occur. A proven fact is that Giardia throws a special toxin that depresses the nervous system. In children, giardiasis is especially often accompanied by allergic reactions.
What to do if lamblia cysts are detected? About it further.
Forms of ailment
Giardiasis can take place in various clinical forms:
1. Giardiasis without severe symptoms. Up to 35 percent of all infested. It is possible to identify only during a special examination.
2. Subclinical form. It occurs more often than the previous one in 50 percent of cases. Symptoms are present, but not pronounced. The picture of the clinical course of the disease is blurred.
3. The manifest form. It is relatively rare (15-20 percent of cases).
Types of manifest form
The manifest form of giardiasis, in turn, is divided into several types, depending on the symptoms accompanying the disease:
1. Intestinal, leading to functional bowel disorder, accompanied by duodenitis, enteritis and gastroenteritis. It affects primarily the small intestine.
2. Biliary-pacreatic, leading to cholecystitis, pancreatitis, cholangitis and other diseases of the biliary tract.
3. Extraintestinal, leading to the appearance of astheno-neurotic syndrome and allergic reactions.
4. Mixed.
In all these cases, an analysis of lamblia cysts is needed.
Any of the forms of manifest giardiasis can be acute or chronic.
Manifestations and signs
Since Giardia lives in the small intestine, the first manifestations of their presence will manifest themselves in the form of malfunctions of the digestive system. Extraintestinal signs associated with neuronal and allergic signs are less common. The incubation period of the disease lasts up to three weeks. After this, the first symptomatology may appear, namely:
Frequent diarrhea With giardiasis, unlike dysentery, there are no impurities in the form of mucus or blood in the liquid stool.
Pain in the abdomen. The intensity and duration of pain can vary from mild tingling to severe pain. As a rule, soreness appears in the upper abdomen.
Bloating. It occurs as a result of metabolic disorders due to the interference of lamblia in the intestinal microflora. This leads to excessive gas formation. Feces for Giardia cysts can be taken at any clinic.
The above symptoms can occur up to three weeks with subsequent decay or overflowing into a chronic form of the disease. This directly depends on the degree of infection and the characteristics of the invasive immunity.
The characteristic general symptoms of infection are fatigue, decreased performance, and drowsiness. Also, children have impaired attention and memory, headaches and dizziness. This is due to the fact that the body throws all its forces into the fight against parasitic organisms. Giardia intercepts part of the nutrients necessary for the normal functioning of the whole organism. How else do lamblia cysts manifest themselves in adults?
Additional symptoms
Failures in the intake of nutrients can lead to the following symptoms:
Abnormal weight loss. This occurs with prolonged invasion of the child.
Anemia, i.e. a sharp decrease in hemoglobin. This occurs with insufficient intake of vitamins B9 and B12, which are responsible for cell renewal and metabolic processes.
Decreased immune characteristics of the body. Decreased resistance to viruses and bacteria.
Allergic reactions in the form of a small-pointed red rash, accompanied by severe itching. Bronchial asthma or inflammation of the nasal mucosa (rhinitis) and conjunctivitis may also develop.
Intoxication of the body depends on the degree of invasiveness and duration of the disease. It manifests itself as increased adenoids, subfebrile temperature, as well as lymphadenitis.
How to identify lamblia cysts in the feces of a child?
Identification Methods
It is quite difficult to detect giardiasis, since it is accompanied by a large number of non-specific symptoms. Often they confuse him with other diseases and treat individual symptoms, not the root cause.
For the diagnosis of "giardiasis" it is necessary to apply several research methods. The first and main is the study of the patient's feces for the detection of lamblia cysts. The second method is a duodenal biopsy.
As for the first method, that is, there is a certain pattern between the time of invasion and the appearance of lamblia in the feces. After all, as mentioned above, after the lamblia cysts enter the intestines, it takes three weeks before they begin to develop. In the chronic course of the disease, they can periodically disappear, so the analysis is done every week for a month and a half. This study is called stool microscopy. How to treat Giardia cysts, consider below.
Not so popular, due to its novelty, enterotest. In this type of study, the patient swallows an ampoule of gelatin, inside of which a nylon thread is hidden. In the intestine, the ampoule dissolves, lamblia adhere to the thread and, together with feces, go out after a few hours. After which the study is conducted.
An intestinal biopsy is perhaps the most accurate method for determining the presence of parasites in the intestine, as well as changes that occur as a result of infection. A significant drawback of this type of research is its high cost. Therefore, it is carried out as a last resort, when all other possibilities of diagnosis are exhausted.
How to most accurately determine lamblia cysts in children?
There is also the so-called immunological diagnosis. It allows you to determine the presence in the patient’s blood of antibodies that fight parasites. Antibodies, otherwise called immunoglobulins, are a special type of protein that can neutralize dangerous bacteria, viruses and other pathogenic substances that enter our body. The immunoglobulins in the assay are encoded by the letters Ig. IgM in the blood indicates an acute form of pathology. IgG indicates the presence of a chronic form of the disease. If both types of antibodies are detected in the blood, then the patient has a chronic form of the disease, which is in the acute stage.
Giardia cysts: treatment
To begin treatment, you must be 100% sure of the correct diagnosis. Otherwise, it will be impossible to prescribe the correct therapy. Medicines in the treatment of giardiasis help to completely destroy the parasites, cleansing the intestines for its normal functioning. When taking medications that eliminate the symptoms, quick-passing relief occurs, since the cause of the disease is not removed.
The most effective drug is called Metronidazole. It creates intolerant conditions for giardia in their habitat. It also has an anti-inflammatory effect, which makes the healing process faster. Treatment is carried out from seven to ten days.
"Furazolidin" is available in the form of a suspension, is taken up to ten days and has an antiseptic and antimicrobial effect. Due to the large number of contraindications and side effects, any antiparasitic drugs must be taken after consultation with your doctor.
The Importance of Hygiene
Do not forget about hygiene in the treatment of giardiasis, namely about specific hygiene procedures, such as:
1. Boil water.
2. Always wash your hands after using the toilet and before eating.
3. Timely change bedding and underwear, as well as regularly conduct wet cleaning.
It is equally important in the treatment of giardiasis to adhere to a diet. Eat foods easily digestible by the body, such as cottage cheese, kefir, sour cream. Of fruits, it is best to give preference to apples, pears, citrus fruits. A high-vitamin diet is recommended to make up for lost nutrients in Giardia cysts in feces.
Preventative measures
Treatment of giardiasis is almost one hundred percent effective. But relapses are also possible. Sometimes, for a complete cure, it is necessary to repeat the course of treatment several times. Patients are monitored and are monitored by specialists for up to six months. It is necessary to observe oral hygiene, try not to use objects of common use, wash your hands more often and thoroughly rinse fruits and vegetables before eating.
We examined lamblia cysts. What it is is now clear.