Skip to main content
PMC home page
Archives of Disease in Childhood logoLink to Archives of Disease in Childhood
. 1991 Mar;66(3):304–306. doi: 10.1136/adc.66.3.304

Prevalence and treatment of giardiasis in chronic diarrhoea and malnutrition.

P B Sullivan 1, M N Marsh 1, M B Phillips 1, O Dewit 1, G Neale 1, A M Cevallos 1, P Yamson 1, M J Farthing 1
PMCID: PMC1792880  PMID: 2025005

Abstract

To determine the prevalence of giardiasis in Gambian children with chronic diarrhoea and to assess their response to treatment, 31 children with chronic diarrhoea and malnutrition were investigated for giardiasis using a combination of serology (specific antigiardia IgM antibody) and microscopy of faeces and jejunal biopsy specimens. Fourteen of 31 children with chronic diarrhoea had giardiasis compared with only four of 33 healthy age and sex matched control children. Four of 15 malnourished children without diarrhoea were giardia positive. Twenty-three children with chronic diarrhoea were reinvestigated after treatment with metronidazole; giardia was found in 11 of them. These results show that giardia is highly prevalent in children with chronic diarrhoea and malnutrition and that the infection does not respond to standard therapeutic measures.

Full text

PDF
304

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Ament M. E., Rubin C. E. Relation of giardiasis to abnormal intestinal structure and function in gastrointestinal immunodeficiency syndromes. Gastroenterology. 1972 Feb;62(2):216–226. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bendig D. W. Diagnosis of giardiasis in infants and children by endoscopic brush cytology. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 1989 Feb;8(2):204–206. doi: 10.1097/00005176-198902000-00013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Danciger M., Lopez M. Numbers of Giardia in the feces of infected children. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1975 Mar;24(2):237–242. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1975.24.237. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Farthing M. J., Mata L., Urrutia J. J., Kronmal R. A. Natural history of Giardia infection of infants and children in rural Guatemala and its impact on physical growth. Am J Clin Nutr. 1986 Mar;43(3):395–405. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/43.3.395. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gibb A. P. Identification of unsuspected cases of giardiasis by wet-film microscopy. Lancet. 1989 Jul 22;2(8656):216–217. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(89)90398-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gilman R. H., Brown K. H., Visvesvara G. S., Mondal G., Greenberg B., Sack R. B., Brandt F., Khan M. U. Epidemiology and serology of Giardia lamblia in a developing country: Bangladesh. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1985;79(4):469–473. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(85)90068-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gilman R. H., Marquis G. S., Miranda E., Vestegui M., Martinez H. Rapid reinfection by Giardia lamblia after treatment in a hyperendemic Third World community. Lancet. 1988 Feb 13;1(8581):343–345. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(88)91131-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Goka A. K., Rolston D. D., Mathan V. I., Farthing M. J. Diagnosis of giardiasis by specific IgM antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Lancet. 1986 Jul 26;2(8500):184–186. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)92487-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Goka A. K., Rolston D. D., Mathan V. I., Farthing M. J. The relative merits of faecal and duodenal juice microscopy in the diagnosis of giardiasis. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1990 Jan-Feb;84(1):66–67. doi: 10.1016/0035-9203(90)90386-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Haas J., Bücken E. W. Zum Krankheitswert der Lamblien-Infektion. Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 1967 Oct 13;92(41):1869–1871. doi: 10.1055/s-0028-1106056. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kamath K. R., Murugasu R. A comparative study of four methods for detecting Giardia lamblia in children with diarrheal disease and malabsorption. Gastroenterology. 1974 Jan;66(1):16–21. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mason P. R., Patterson B. A. Epidemiology of Giardia lamblia infection in children: cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in urban and rural communities in Zimbabwe. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1987 Sep;37(2):277–282. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1987.37.277. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Morris A., Nicholson G. Ingestion of Campylobacter pyloridis causes gastritis and raised fasting gastric pH. Am J Gastroenterol. 1987 Mar;82(3):192–199. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Roberts-Thomson I. C., Mitchell G. F. Giardiasis in mice. I. Prolonged infections in certain mouse strains and hypothymic (nude) mice. Gastroenterology. 1978 Jul;75(1):42–46. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sullivan P. B., Phillips M. B., Neale G. Endoscopic capsule biopsy of the small intestine. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 1988 Jul-Aug;7(4):544–547. doi: 10.1097/00005176-198807000-00011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sullivan P. B., Thomas J. E., Wight D. G., Neale G., Eastham E. J., Corrah T., Lloyd-Evans N., Greenwood B. M. Helicobacter pylori in Gambian children with chronic diarrhoea and malnutrition. Arch Dis Child. 1990 Feb;65(2):189–191. doi: 10.1136/adc.65.2.189. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Viteri F. E., Schneider R. E. Gastrointestinal alterations in protein-calorie malnutrition. Med Clin North Am. 1974 Nov;58(6):1487–1505. doi: 10.1016/s0025-7125(16)32085-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Archives of Disease in Childhood are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES