Skip to main content
PMC home page
Epidemiology and Infection logoLink to Epidemiology and Infection
. 1994 Aug;113(1):95–102. doi: 10.1017/s0950268800051505

Risk factors for giardiasis: a case-control study in Avon and Somerset.

S F Gray 1, D J Gunnell 1, T J Peters 1
PMCID: PMC2271210  PMID: 8062884

Abstract

Giardia lamblia is a common and increasing cause of gastrointestinal illness in the UK. We report a case-control study that examined risk factors for giardiasis. Patients with giardiasis were identified from reports to the Consultants in Communicable Disease in Avon and Somerset, and age-sex matched controls were obtained from their general practitioners' lists. Details of travel history, water consumption and recreational water use were collected by postal questionnaire. Over the period July 1992 to May 1993, 74 cases and 108 matched controls were obtained. The data were analysed using conditional logistic regression. Swimming appeared to be an independent risk factor for giardiasis (odds ratio 2.4, 95% CI 1.0 to 6.1, P = 0.050). Travel (P = 0.001), particularly to developing countries, and type of travel (P = 0.004)--that is, camping, caravanning or staying in holiday chalets--were also observed to be significant risk factors. Other recreational water use and drinking potentially contaminated water were found to be not statistically significant after adjustment for other factors.

Full text

PDF
98

Selected References

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

  1. Addiss D. G., Davis J. P., Roberts J. M., Mast E. E. Epidemiology of giardiasis in Wisconsin: increasing incidence of reported cases and unexplained seasonal trends. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1992 Jul;47(1):13–19. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1992.47.13. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Balarajan R., Soni Raleigh V., Yuen P., Wheeler D., Machin D., Cartwright R. Health risks associated with bathing in sea water. BMJ. 1991 Dec 7;303(6815):1444–1445. doi: 10.1136/bmj.303.6815.1444. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bhopal R. A. Travellers' diarrhoea. Difficult to avoid. BMJ. 1993 Jul 31;307(6899):322–323. doi: 10.1136/bmj.307.6899.322-d. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Birkhead G., Vogt R. L. Epidemiologic surveillance for endemic Giardia lamblia infection in Vermont. The roles of waterborne and person-to-person transmission. Am J Epidemiol. 1989 Apr;129(4):762–768. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115191. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Common-source outbreak of giardiasis--New Mexico. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1989 Jun 16;38(23):405–407. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chute C. G., Smith R. P., Baron J. A. Risk factors for endemic giardiasis. Am J Public Health. 1987 May;77(5):585–587. doi: 10.2105/ajph.77.5.585. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Craun G. F. Waterborne giardiasis in the United States 1965-84. Lancet. 1986 Aug 30;2(8505):513–514. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90382-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Flanagan P. A. Giardia--diagnosis, clinical course and epidemiology. A review. Epidemiol Infect. 1992 Aug;109(1):1–22. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gray S. F., Rouse A. R. Giardiasis--a cause of travellers' diarrhoea. Commun Dis Rep CDR Rev. 1992 Mar 27;2(4):R45–R47. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Greensmith C. T., Stanwick R. S., Elliot B. E., Fast M. V. Giardiasis associated with the use of a water slide. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1988 Feb;7(2):91–94. doi: 10.1097/00006454-198802000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Harter L., Frost F., Grunenfelder G., Perkins-Jones K., Libby J. Giardiasis in an infant and toddler swim class. Am J Public Health. 1984 Feb;74(2):155–156. doi: 10.2105/ajph.74.2.155. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Isaac-Renton J. L., Philion J. J. Factors associated with acquiring giardiasis in British Columbia residents. Can J Public Health. 1992 Mar-Apr;83(2):155–158. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Jephcott A. E., Begg N. T., Baker I. A. Outbreak of giardiasis associated with mains water in the United Kingdom. Lancet. 1986 Mar 29;1(8483):730–732. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)91114-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Meyers J. D., Kuharic H. A., Holmes K. K. Giardia lamblia infection in homosexual men. Br J Vener Dis. 1977 Feb;53(1):54–55. doi: 10.1136/sti.53.1.54. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Moorehead W. P., Guasparini R., Donovan C. A., Mathias R. G., Cottle R., Baytalan G. Giardiasis outbreak from a chlorinated community water supply. Can J Public Health. 1990 Sep-Oct;81(5):358–362. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Osterholm M. T., Forfang J. C., Ristinen T. L., Dean A. G., Washburn J. W., Godes J. R., Rude R. A., McCullough J. G. An outbreak of foodborne giardiasis. N Engl J Med. 1981 Jan 1;304(1):24–28. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198101013040106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Porter J. D., Gaffney C., Heymann D., Parkin W. Food-borne outbreak of Giardia lamblia. Am J Public Health. 1990 Oct;80(10):1259–1260. doi: 10.2105/ajph.80.10.1259. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Porter J. D., Ragazzoni H. P., Buchanon J. D., Waskin H. A., Juranek D. D., Parkin W. E. Giardia transmission in a swimming pool. Am J Public Health. 1988 Jun;78(6):659–662. doi: 10.2105/ajph.78.6.659. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Rauch A. M., Van R., Bartlett A. V., Pickering L. K. Longitudinal study of Giardia lamblia infection in a day care center population. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1990 Mar;9(3):186–189. doi: 10.1097/00006454-199003000-00008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. White K. E., Hedberg C. W., Edmonson L. M., Jones D. B., Osterholm M. T., MacDonald K. L. An outbreak of giardiasis in a nursing home with evidence for multiple modes of transmission. J Infect Dis. 1989 Aug;160(2):298–304. doi: 10.1093/infdis/160.2.298. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Epidemiology and Infection are provided here courtesy of Cambridge University Press

RESOURCES