Food Borne illness
Food Borne Illness: Giardia
When generally thinking of parasites and food-borne illnesses, we tend to think about the poorest and dirtiest places on Earth. In Reality, parasites can be found almost anywhere on this planet. One type of common food-borne illness is a giardia infection. This infection is in the intestine and caused by microscopic giardia parasites. If given the opportunity this vicious creature will infect anybody regardless of sex, age, living conditions, and body types. Surprisingly this disease affects not only humans but also domestic and wild mammals.
There are several ways a person can contract this illness. The most common way to contract the illness is ingesting water that as been contaminated with animal feces. This is the reason we are constantly reminded never to drink water from a lake or stream that have not been purified. Given that many undeveloped countries have little or no clean water, the majority of the cases of giardia affect children and adults in these third would countries. A person can also get infected by eating raw or uncooked contaminated food, touching something that has feces on it from a day care or nursing home environments, and unprotected anal intercourse.
Once this parasite has found a home inside someone or something’s body it will take seven to fourteen days for any symptoms to start showing. The most common symptom of this illness is watery diarrhea. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, weight loss, stomach pain, loss of appetite, and fever. If these symptoms last more than a week, there is blood in the stool, or I the infected person is dehydrated, the infected person should contact medical help immediately. Unfortunately, this parasite can prove to be fatal if left in the body untreated. If an infected person shows no sign of symptoms it is not uncommon for that person to receive no medicine, because sometimes the infection can clear up on its own. If a person does need medicine they are usually given
When generally thinking of parasites and food-borne illnesses, we tend to think about the poorest and dirtiest places on Earth. In Reality, parasites can be found almost anywhere on this planet. One type of common food-borne illness is a giardia infection. This infection is in the intestine and caused by microscopic giardia parasites. If given the opportunity this vicious creature will infect anybody regardless of sex, age, living conditions, and body types. Surprisingly this disease affects not only humans but also domestic and wild mammals.
There are several ways a person can contract this illness. The most common way to contract the illness is ingesting water that as been contaminated with animal feces. This is the reason we are constantly reminded never to drink water from a lake or stream that have not been purified. Given that many undeveloped countries have little or no clean water, the majority of the cases of giardia affect children and adults in these third would countries. A person can also get infected by eating raw or uncooked contaminated food, touching something that has feces on it from a day care or nursing home environments, and unprotected anal intercourse.
Once this parasite has found a home inside someone or something’s body it will take seven to fourteen days for any symptoms to start showing. The most common symptom of this illness is watery diarrhea. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, weight loss, stomach pain, loss of appetite, and fever. If these symptoms last more than a week, there is blood in the stool, or I the infected person is dehydrated, the infected person should contact medical help immediately. Unfortunately, this parasite can prove to be fatal if left in the body untreated. If an infected person shows no sign of symptoms it is not uncommon for that person to receive no medicine, because sometimes the infection can clear up on its own. If a person does need medicine they are usually given