From: ccsupmt@prism.gatech.EDU (MARY TRAUNER)
Newsgroups: rec.boats.paddle
Subject: Re: Giardia
Date: 23 Dec 92 16:17:00 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

I bought an interesting book for a friend and ended up getting a copy for 
myself.  It's "How to Shit in the Woods" by Kathleen Meyer.  It has a very
interesting section on Giardia.  It reads:

"Giardia is present nowadays in much of the animal kingdom with strains having
been found in fish, birds, reptiles, and thirty mammilian species.  Animal
feces continually recontaminate remote watersheds.  Beavers and muskrats,
spending their lives in the water, are known carriers.  But the saddest
commentary on this disease is that humans may have played the greatest role
in spreading it.

Until 1970, there were no known reports in the US of waterborne outbreaks of
Giardia.  The first waterborne outbreak ocurred in Aspen, CO in 1970.  Over
the next four years, many cases were documented in travelers returning from,
of all places, Leningrad.  The explanation for this seems to be a combination
of two factors; the Soviet Union became more open to visitation by Westerners
at about this time and Leningrad's municipal water supply was full if Giardia
cysts.  The US outbreak sparked debate and speculations, as well as solid
ongoing research, into the origins of giardia and the manner of transmission
among species.  Where did it come from?  Who gave it to whom?  Who bears the
greatest responsibility for its spread, animals or humans?  What do we do
now?

A popular theory, seeming to exonerate humans, is that giardia has been
around all along - throughout the eons - and is only now beginning to be
correctly diagnosed.  "Around" appears to be the key word in this theory.
Giardia may have been around somewhere, but in the Sierras?  In the Rockies?
Undeniably, there have been reports of giardia in other parts of the world
since it was discovered in 1681. .......  Only in the late seventies and
early eighties did we begin to hear repeatedly of unshakable cases of this
"new disease" among us.  It seems improbable that we were all previously
either asymptomatic carriers or misdiagnosed.

To further humor my personal suspicions as to where the responsibility for
the spread of giardia lies, I offer a few more thoughts.  If left SOLEY to
the animals in the wild, it seems the progression might have marched along
at a different pace, beaver to beaver, stretching over a long period of time
.......  It is known that both humans and animals can and do spread this 
disease.  There is also evidence to suggest that some animals may rid
themselves of giardia during the winter months, only to be reinfected by
humans in the spring."

She goes on to talk about how we should think about how our actions [in the
woods] reverberates through every other aspect of the planet.  It's an
interesting book...only $5.95....good stocking stuffer!


In article <1992Dec22.001626.16581@u.washington.edu> distef@carson.u.washington.edu (Sandra Distefano) writes:
>vsh@etnibsd.uucp (Steve Harris) writes:
>
>>In article <1992Dec18.132201.22853@brtph560.bnr.ca> rlarsen@bnr.ca (Richard Larsen P220) writes:
>>He said he had been infected with
>>Giardia all season -- sometimes it was worse than others (diarrhea,
>>cramps, etc.), but he just kept on going.
>
>>I was a little amazed as I had been led to believe this was a serious
>>disease requiring prompt attention.
>
>Some people are able to get their immune systems to get rid of
>the infection, others get food allergies, abdominal pain, weight
>loss, malaise, eosinophilia, protein-calorie malnutrition,
>bacterial overgrowth, and diarrhea.  "The infection may persist
>for years and may be fatal." Parasitology, Noble and Noble, 5th edition.
>The seriousness of the infection has to do with host factors such as 
>gastric acidity or immunodeficiency and with the sheer number of
>giardia in the gut (which has to do with the number ingested
>and the host factors which allow them to reproduce or not).
>
>sandra
>distef@u.washington.edu

I got it once, either from the Ocoee (though people claimed NOTHING lives
in the Ocoee)  or Stone Mountain Lake (rolling practice.)  I'm not one 
that swallows much water, if any.  I had terrible
abdominal cramps and ran a 101-102 degree fever for 10 days.  During this
time the doctors treated me with 3 mega-antibiotics.  I finally asked if
it could be giardia.  "Sure" was the answer I got.  A few days later, after
(shudder) Flagyl treatement, the cramps and fever were gone.  It took over
a year for my gut to straightened out again from all those antibiotics, I
suppose.

mct

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