Treatment regimen for giardiasis in a child. Giardia in children and adults: causes, symptoms, treatment

Giardia is a protozoan that has two stages of development:

dirty hands, dishes, household items;
Pets;
cyst-contaminated food and water.

Why are Giardia dangerous?

swelling of the intestinal mucosa;
inflammatory process;
atrophy of most active cells;
degeneration of digestive function;
decreased metabolism;
decreased general and local immunity;
malabsorption.

Symptoms and forms of the disease

The disease can occur both acutely (in babies and preschool children) and in a chronic form. Symptoms of acute giardiasis are:

diarrhea (acts of defecation - up to 12 times a day) with foamy liquid contents;
attacks of nausea;
an increase in body temperature slightly above subfebrile values (up to about 38o C);
abdominal pain, aggravated by palpation;
small pink rash on the skin (not everyone).

Diagnosis of the acute form of the disease is rare; in some cases, self-healing occurs. In most patients, after 30–90 days the disease develops into an acute form, which has the following symptoms:

peeling and dry skin;
general intoxication of the body;
pallor;
“circles” under the eyes;
allergic dermatitis;
manifestation of other allergic reactions;
follicular keratosis;
abdominal pain (especially in the right side);
attacks of nausea;
chronic diarrhea;
loss of appetite;
mental instability;
frequent mood changes;
temperature rise to subfebrile.

Diagnostics

Before treating the disease, it is necessary to carry out diagnostic measures. How to detect Giardia?

It is possible to remove Giardia only if the parents and pets are treated with the child, since there is a high probability of infection of all family members. You can get rid of Giardia by completing a full course of treatment, consisting of three stages.

Following a specialized diet consisting of buckwheat, rolled oats and wheat porridge, bran, baked pears and apples, thermally processed vegetables, vegetable oil and sour berries. Carbohydrates are strictly limited.
You need to drink mineral waters daily (Essentuki, Narzan).
Once a week, a tubage of hot mineral water is carried out (0.1 liter of mineral water - 7 g of sorbitol).

Flamin + No-shpa, then – Intetrix;
Flamin + No-shpa, then Marmikor.

After completing one of the courses described above, you must drink sorbents (Filtrum or Lactofiltrum) for 2 weeks.

Complications of the disease

The consequences of the disease are:

impaired digestion of the small intestine;
deterioration of the skin condition (dermatitis, urticaria, allergies);
duodenitis;
gastritis;
severe intoxication of the patient’s body, requiring urgent restoration of basic important functions.

Of course, Giardia is an unofficial name, as they are called “popularly”, in honor of the Czech doctor Lamblia, Vilém Dušan, who discovered them. Their medical name is Giardia or giardia. They belong to a fairly common order of protozoa - Diplomonas.

Giardia - causes of intestinal disorders in children

Their microscopic size does not allow them to be seen with the naked eye, but if you place them under a microscope, you can see tiny teardrop-shaped creatures armed with 4 pairs of flagellum and an attachment cord, with which they cling to the intestinal walls.

They cannot be classified as worms, since they are single-celled creatures. In fact, it is an intermediate link between bacteria and multicellular organisms.

Life cycle

Giardia lives a full cycle in the human body

Their life cycle is known quite well:

Labial cysts enter the human body. They are extremely resistant to external aggressive factors; they can live for several days in a one percent chlorine solution, and for up to 2-3 months in water or a humid environment. Infection occurs through the oral route.

Gastric juice also does not have a detrimental effect on Giardia cysts, allowing them to pass unhindered into the small intestine - their main place of residence.

In the small intestine, cysts are activated and turn into adult forms, which attach to its walls, feeding on incoming substances. They have a preference for carbohydrate foods, but can also absorb other nutrients.

If, after contact with contaminated objects, the child bites his nails or eats food with dirty hands, the cysts will pass through the mouth into the stomach. This is how infection occurs.

It is often said that Giardia can penetrate the gallbladder and liver, but so far this remains only a theory, but has received practical confirmation.

Transmission routes

From person to person. Giardia cysts are excreted in feces, and poorly washed hands after visiting the restroom can become an excellent tool for their spread.

Through the water. Infection can occur both in open bodies of water and through consumption of raw tap water, in which these protozoa are often found. It is especially worth noting that in most cases, conventional chlorination and industrial cleaning are not enough.

Through animals. Since animals can also be carriers of Giardia, infection through them is quite likely. The typical route of spread is through animal feces.

Giardia can be transmitted from animals

It is believed that to become infected with Giardia, it is enough for about a dozen cysts to enter the body. With such an abundance of transmission routes and the high survival rate of these protozoa, it is not surprising that most people are infected with them.

Prevalence and incidence

These indicators are especially high in children's groups. According to some estimates, up to 70-80% of children in kindergartens, boarding schools, and schools are infected with Giardia. But they don’t appear in everyone. Interestingly, the incidence decreases with age, and among adults, Giardia is found in 30% of the population.

But in young children, people with weak immunity, and those who have a lot of simple carbohydrates in their diet, they can cause attacks of giardiasis.

It is worth noting that many doctors now consider Giardia to be something like an element of opportunistic flora, i.e., microorganisms that can live in the human body without manifesting themselves or causing harm to him, but under certain factors they are activated, causing the development diseases.

Forms of giardiasis

There are several forms of giardiasis

Giardiasis is a disease caused by infection with these protozoa, Giardia. In order to make such a diagnosis, it is sufficient to detect this microorganism in the stool, but it can manifest itself in completely different forms. Depending on the individual characteristics and duration of the flow, several forms can be distinguished:

Carriage. Giardia cysts are excreted in feces, they can be detected during diagnosis, but no manifestations of the disease are noted. In this case, the person becomes a carrier, infecting others.

Spicy. It is characterized by obvious manifestations of the disease, such as general intoxication, diarrhea, nausea, and so on. As a rule, it does not last long, no more than 3-4 days, becoming chronic.

Chronic. Minor manifestations are noted over a long period of time; periodic exacerbations are possible, especially against the background of stress for the body, for example, a cold. Manifestations are very diverse, most often - various rashes and changes in skin pigmentation, minor intestinal disorders.

Hepatic. There are discussions about the possibility of Giardia cysts getting into the bile ducts, gallbladder and liver, but previously researchers separately identified the hepatic forms of giardiasis. It manifests itself with typical signs of cholecystitis or hepatitis against the background of Giardia infection. Nowadays such a diagnosis is made extremely rarely.

Each of these forms has its own characteristic manifestations, which help diagnose this disease in children.

Pathogenesis

As soon as Giardia enters the upper section of the small intestine, which has the most favorable conditions for their existence, they capture the microcilia of the epithelium. It is on them that Giardia spend most of their time.

Giardia begins its journey from the upper intestine

Normally, it is in the small intestine that the breakdown, fermentation of food takes place and the subsequent absorption of most nutrients into the intestinal walls: fats, proteins, simple carbohydrates, as well as minerals and vitamins. As a result, Giardia competes with humans for the substances they both need.

In this case, the synthesis of digestive enzymes significantly deteriorates, the absorption of proteins, fats, carbohydrates is impaired, and the content of vitamins A, B, C, folic acid, carotene, thiamine, riboflavin and other substances necessary for normal growth and development in the body decreases.

But that’s it, this picture is observed quite rarely, most often against the background of weakened immunity. In most cases, giardiasis manifests itself less sharply.

Characteristic symptoms of giardiasis in children

Giardiasis manifests itself with various symptoms

First of all, it is worth noting that this disease can have a lot of manifestations, which makes it much more difficult to diagnose, but most often they include the following:

Diarrhea. This is one of the main manifestations of this disease. The feces are soft, unformed or liquid, yellowish, with a small admixture of mucus, with an unpleasant odor, frequent. Giardiasis is characterized by alternating diarrhea with constipation that lasts for several days.

Nausea and vomiting. A characteristic sign of acute giardiasis, especially in children, is vomiting.

Intestinal disorders. With giardiasis, various intestinal disorders are often noted: increased gas formation, bloating, noise, “splashing water” and so on.

Rash. A common manifestation of acute giardiasis in children is various allergic skin rashes. They may resemble measles, jaundice, or diathesis, depending on the progression of the disease.

Pain. Children often complain of pain in the epigastric region, in the upper abdomen, and also around the navel.

Temperature increase. A slight increase in temperature is noted in the acute form of giardiasis, among other signs of general intoxication.

Change in appetite. Some patients complain of decreased appetite and aversion to food. For others it does not change.

Malabsorption. Deterioration in nutrient absorption is typical for this type of disease. As a result, while maintaining the usual diet, the child begins to lose weight.

9 Headache and dizziness. They are also associated with decreased nutrient intake. These symptoms may be supplemented by irritability, fatigue, general malaise, and sometimes physical retardation, emotional lability,

Changes in skin pigmentation. With a long and severe course, several characteristic signs may appear: a marbled nose, darkening of the skin.

Dry skin. In some cases, children infected with Giardia have rough skin on their feet, cracked heels, pimples, peeling lips, snags, and thinning hair.

As you can see, the characteristic symptoms of giardiasis in children can be quite varied. They relate not only to the digestive system, but also to other systems. Therefore, in order to make a correct diagnosis, certain diagnostics are required.

Diagnosis of giardiasis in children

Diagnosis is made using various tests

In modern medicine, there are several types of studies that are carried out when giardiasis is suspected. Among the main ones:

Palpation. When palpating the abdomen of a child who is suspected of having giardiasis, the doctor may note pain in the area of the small intestine, and sometimes in the area of the liver and gallbladder.

Coprogram. Today, the main method for diagnosing Giardia infection is stool examination. Based on it, a preparation is prepared in the laboratory, which is studied under a microscope, noting the presence of Giardia cysts. This method is simple, accessible and widespread, but has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, it is characterized by a certain subjectivity, which can affect the quality of diagnosis. Secondly, giardiasis has so-called silent stages, when cysts are not excreted in feces. Therefore, for targeted diagnostics, it is recommended to repeat it 3-4 times at intervals of 6-8 days.

Examination of the contents of the small intestine. For a more accurate diagnosis, probing of the esophagus is sometimes used. In this case, using a gastroscope, the doctor takes a sample of the contents of the small intestine, which is then examined under a microscope in the same way. But in this case, it is possible not only to determine the presence of cysts, but also to detect adult forms of Giardia. This eliminates the risk of entering the silent stage and receiving a false negative response.

Biopsy of the small intestinal mucosa. Also, during endoscopy, a sample of the epithelium of the small intestine can be taken for subsequent study.

Blood test. In some cases, they resort to enzyme immunoassay of blood serum. This analysis allows not only to determine the presence of Giardia in the body, but also to approximately determine the period of development of the disease (more than 2-3 months or less). Blood for this analysis is taken from a vein on an empty stomach, observing all the typical requirements. But some researchers consider this method somewhat dubious, still recommending monitoring the results obtained through stool examination.

Therefore, doctors most often resort to the simplest method of diagnosis - stool examination.

Additional diagnostics

Separately, we note that when characteristic signs of giardiasis appear, even its detection in the feces cannot be the end of the diagnosis. Many other diseases can have similar symptoms: helminthic infestations, amoebiasis, as well as colitis and duodenitis of infectious and non-infectious nature. This applies to intestinal symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea).

Intestinal symptoms may not only occur due to Giardia

In the same way, other symptoms attributed to giardiasis should be studied: weight loss, poor appetite, abdominal pain, dermatitis, allergic reactions. All this requires a fairly thorough additional examination: general and biochemical analysis of blood and urine, allergy tests, ultrasound of the abdominal cavity.

The reason for this approach is that Giardia itself appears quite rarely. The reason is that it is possible that two factors coincide: the presence of Giardia in the body and some other factor that caused diarrhea and vomiting.

Therefore, most often, treatment directly for giardiasis is advised to be done in one case: if there is long-term diarrhea, more than 3-4 days, characteristic of this disease, giardia is found in the feces and there are no more likely factors that could cause such manifestations.

Treatment of giardiasis

Treatment of lambiasis consists of several stages

This disease is widespread among children, so doctors have developed a fairly clear treatment plan for them. In most cases it consists of three stages:

Preparatory. First of all, bowel preparation is carried out for a week. A special diet is recommended, which is necessary to cleanse the intestines. Sweet foods and drinks, sugar, cookies, candies, chocolate, baked goods, flour and pasta are excluded from the diet as much as possible.

The basis of nutrition should be fresh vegetables and fruits, cereals, lean boiled or baked meat and poultry, fish and seafood, and dairy products. This reduces the nutrition of Giardia and makes the environment in the small intestine less favorable for them. At the same time, sorbents are prescribed. Due to this, the number of adult forms of Giardia decreases and the conditions for their existence worsen.

Recovery. After the causative agents of the disease are eliminated, the stage of restoring normal intestinal functioning begins. For this purpose, enzymes are prescribed, as well as drugs containing the necessary intestinal flora. At the same time, the intake of sorbents and a typical diet continue.

In most cases, after this the disease is considered cured. However, often when re-diagnosis is carried out after 2-3 months, Giardia cysts are again found in the stool.

But it is difficult to say whether this is a re-infection or whether the treatment had only a temporary effect and became active again after some time. There are no methods yet that can distinguish re-infection from relapse.

Need for treatment

It is worth noting that there are several opinions regarding the need for treatment of giardiasis. Previously, to prescribe therapy, it was enough to detect even a small number of cysts in a child’s stool in the absence of external manifestations of the disease. The reason for this panic was the theory that Giardia can penetrate through the bile ducts into the gallbladder, causing serious illnesses, including hepatitis and cirrhosis. But according to modern research, Giardia cannot live in bile, and therefore cannot penetrate the gallbladder and liver.

The issue of the need to treat giardiasis has not yet been resolved.

In our country, the attitude towards Giardia is twofold. Thus, many doctors of the old school still advise taking tests for Giardia at the slightest deviation, and if they are detected, immediately begin treatment. But a more modern approach coincides with the American one: start aggressive therapy only if there are obvious external manifestations that negatively affect health.

This approach is supported by the fact that the incidence in children's groups can reach 70-80%, and signs of giardiasis, including its more hypothetical severe complications, do not appear in everyone. The same applies to adults: about 30% of the population is infected, and the disease manifests itself quite rarely.

Thus, today many doctors treat the detection of Giardia in a child’s body quite calmly. This cannot be considered a contraindication to visiting public institutions such as nurseries, kindergartens and schools. The only exception is the acute form, accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea and signs of intoxication.

Traditional treatment of giardiasis

It is worth noting that there are many traditional methods of treatment and prevention of giardiasis. Among the most common:

Kalina. Every morning for 10-15 days on an empty stomach you need to carefully worry and swallow a handful of fresh viburnum along with the seeds.

Sagebrush. Wormwood is dried, ground into powder and stored in a thick glass container. For 10 days, take 0.5-1 teaspoon twice a day with plenty of water. To soften the unpleasant taste of wormwood, you can add a little honey to the water.

Flax-seed. Flax seed and cloves in a ratio of 10 to 1 are dried and ground in a coffee grinder to a powder. The resulting mixture should be taken with food throughout the day.

A fresh coconut is opened and divided into three to six parts. For three days in the morning, the pulp is grated and eaten on an empty stomach. After this, you should not eat anything for 3-4 hours.

Cucumber infusion. Ripe seed cucumbers, which have already acquired a brownish peel color, are cut into cubes and placed in a pan so that they take up about a quarter of the volume. Then fill the pan three-quarters full with boiling water, cover with a lid, and allow the infusion to cool. It is then filtered and stored in the refrigerator. During the day you should drink at least half a liter of this infusion. It can be given to a child as a replacement for water and drinks.

Linden ash. Linden branches are burned in a metal container, after which the ashes are sifted, freeing them from coals and lumps. For 4 days, in the morning and evening before meals, the child is given a teaspoon (after 10 years - a tablespoon) of ash mixed with honey. Take this product with warm milk.

Pumpkin seeds. Dried pumpkin seeds can be used as an additional treatment method. You can eat up to 50-100 grams per day, depending on age.

Fennel. Fennel fruits are crushed, and in a combination of 1 to 2, they are poured with warm, about 50 degrees, water. The infusion is brewed for a day, after which the water is drained, and the remaining fruits are poured with water 1 to 1 and brought to a boil, after which they are filtered again. Then both liquids are combined and 50-100 grams are drunk half an hour before meals.

Aspen. A tablespoon of aspen leaves and young branches is poured into a glass of water and boiled in a water bath for an hour. Then the solution is filtered and taken a teaspoon or tablespoon three times a day before meals.

Giardiasis is a typical disease of dirty hands. Most often, it becomes infected if the child does not wash his hands after playing, being outside, or interacting with pets. It is worth noting that it is not enough to simply rinse them with water; you must wash them thoroughly with soap for 10-15 seconds. It is very important to teach and teach a child to wash their hands correctly from a very early age.
Each family member, including children, should have their own towel and dry their hands only with it.
All drinking water must be boiled or bottled. It’s just that tap water can carry Giardia cysts, which are not eliminated by regular city sanitation. It is unacceptable to drink raw water.
All fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs must be thoroughly washed with running water, then rinsed with boiled water and blotted with a clean towel.
To reduce the risk of Giardia infection and its transition to an active form, it is worth paying attention to the child’s nutrition. It should contain as little simple carbohydrates as possible: sugar, baked goods and baked goods, carbonated drinks. They should be replaced with products that simultaneously cleanse the intestines and stimulate its normal functioning: fresh fruits, berries and vegetables, cereals, and fermented milk products.
To prevent giardiasis, like many other diseases, the child’s general immunity plays an important role. Therefore, from early childhood, special attention should be paid to hardening procedures, and colds should be treated in a timely manner. A child’s diet, regardless of the time of year, should contain fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs. The lack of substances should be compensated for with multivitamin complexes selected taking into account his age and lifestyle.
As with the treatment of many other diseases, with giardiasis it is important to consult a doctor in a timely manner. It may be that this will simply be a reinsurance or the symptoms will belong to another disease, but the sooner this becomes known, the better.

Most likely, such prevention will not eliminate the possibility of Giardia infection, given the epidemiological situation in the country and the spread of this disease in children's institutions. But it will reduce the likelihood of infection and severe giardiasis, as well as instill healthy habits and protect against many other diseases.

We hope that after reading this article you have a clearer understanding of the problem of giardiasis, and this will help you take the right approach to your child’s health.

Daytime nap

Hysterics

If a child is diagnosed with Giardia, many parents have no idea who these creatures are and how they can be dangerous. Doctors and the Internet frighten moms and dads with monstrous consequences, but often this is precisely the case when the word itself is worse than what lies behind it. Authoritative children's doctor Evgeniy Komarovsky talks about how to perceive such a diagnosis as giardiasis, what to do and how to treat a child.

What it is?

Getting infected with Giardia is as easy as shelling pears; all you have to do is not wash vegetables and fruits bought at the market, or even wash your hands less often, especially after playing outside, traveling on public transport, or shopping.

There they live, reproduce (sometimes very actively), and sometimes cause irritation of the mucous membrane of this part of the intestine.

If live and vigorous Giardia enters the large intestine, they die because the habitat there is not suitable for them. These individuals, which become cysts, are excreted in the feces.

This disease is most widespread among children, in a certain age group - from 1 to 4 years. However, it is children who tolerate the disease more easily than adults.

Symptoms

Quite often there are no symptoms at all. It is possible to detect Giardia cysts completely by accident, when a child takes tests to obtain admission to kindergarten or after another illness, when it is necessary to examine stool. Sometimes giardiasis can manifest itself with the following clinical picture:

Frequent pain in the upper abdomen, around the navel.
Increased flatulence, bloating, gas formation.
Frequent attacks of nausea and vomiting in a child.
Stool disorders - diarrhea alternates with constipation and vice versa.
Atopic dermatitis (popularly called diathesis).
Fatigue, slow weight gain, restless and unhealthy sleep, headaches, irritability and tearfulness.

You can verify the absence or presence of Giardia only on the basis of laboratory tests of the child’s stool.

However, it is not always possible to find cysts in it, and then, if characteristic symptoms are present, the doctor prescribes an unpleasant procedure - inserting a one and a half meter probe through the mouth to examine the duodenal contents. In addition, a blood test is prescribed to check for the presence of antibodies to Giardia; such antibodies, according to medical reference books, usually appear about a month after infection.

Doctor Komarovsky's opinion

About 30% of the world's population is infected with the simplest Giardia, says Komarovsky, and most of them are children. Despite the fact that humanity has known about Giardia for several centuries (they were discovered in 1861), these single-celled organisms are shrouded in a veil of secrets and myths.

The first of these is excessive danger. Evgeniy Komarovsky says that many patients, and doctors, also tend to exaggerate the harm caused to the body by Giardia.

The second is habitat. If a doctor tells you that Giardia lives in the liver or gall bladder, and therefore causes cirrhosis and biliary dyskinesia, you need to run away from such a doctor as soon as possible and as far as possible. Giardia cannot survive anywhere except the small intestine.

Previously, almost until the middle of the 20th century, doctors really believed that lamblia and bile ducts, as well as liver diseases, were related. But then numerous studies refuted this information. In particular, it was revealed that rather “frail” Giardia, which is not able to survive in the conditions of the large intestine, in principle cannot exist in such an aggressive environment as human bile.

Not everything is simple with the diagnosis of the disease.

Komarovsky calls stool analysis for Giardia cysts the only reliable analysis. Other methods, including blood tests, will not show a reliable picture.

If cysts are found in a child’s stool, then this is not a reason to sound the alarm, says Evgeny Komarovsky.

According to unofficial data, about 18% of kindergarteners in Russia have lamblia in their bodies, but at the same time they feel great and do not complain about anything.

Treatment

Treatment for established giardiasis is not always required, says the doctor. The child’s immunity begins to “work” against lamblia from the moment it adheres to the wall of the small intestine.

Giardiasis does not have a big impact on children's immunity.

Doctors discovered this when they observed how the disease progressed in children with severe congenital immunodeficiency (HIV). Their condition was no different from that of their healthy peers.

This does not mean that giardiasis does not need to be treated at all. There are particularly difficult situations in which a specific treatment regimen is needed.

When and how to treat

If a child has diarrhea with diagnosed Giardia for more than 10 days, if all other symptoms are present, including weight loss and pathological loss of appetite, and if the child also suffers from atopic dermatitis, treatment may be necessary. Komarovsky emphasizes that in reality such a need arises extremely rarely.

The World Health Organization establishes the only indication for the treatment of giardiasis - prolonged diarrhea. If this symptom is not present, there is no need for medication or other treatment.

Treating giardiasis with folk remedies, according to Evgeniy Komarovsky, is ineffective, takes a long time and is completely unnecessary. The same applies to treatment with various expensive dietary supplements (dietary supplements). It also makes no sense to treat the problem with antibiotics, since Giardia is not a bacteria.

The usual treatment regimen includes the use of drugs such as Trichopolum, Furazolidone, Tiberal.

Antihistamines and enterosorbents can be added to them.

For prolonged diarrhea, which requires urgent intervention, drugs that can be taken once are often recommended, such as Tinidazole. It is often recommended to be taken by the whole family, where at least one of the household members has begun to suffer from an acute form of giardiasis. Another effective remedy is Albendazole, the course of treatment of which will be 5 days.

Prevention

Hand washing is a useful habit, but it practically does not protect against Giardia, says Evgeniy Komarovsky. The fact is that these protozoa are found not only in people, but also in animals, and if a dog or cat went to the toilet in the yard where a child is walking, then with a high probability he will bring home Giardia cysts on his shoes, which, if they fall into a favorable environment, the environment of the small intestine will come to life and begin to show activity.

Giardia are very small in size, but can harm humans

In the external environment, Giardia cysts demonstrate very high resistance. At a temperature of +18 °C they retain vital activity for more than 40 days. At higher temperatures – a week. In a cold environment, when the temperature is below 0 °C, they die after 3–4 days.

Giardia is most often found in the intestines

There are 3 main ways of contracting giardiasis:

Giardiasis occurs in 2 forms:

Acute - develops in babies, as well as in older children, when the immune system is weakened. The disease is accompanied by pronounced symptoms. With proper treatment, you can get rid of the disease in 5–7 days.

Chronic – at this stage there are no acute symptoms. But constant intoxication of the body provokes a significant deterioration in the general condition of the child.

How dangerous is Giardia for a child?

Giardia causes serious harm to a child's health

In addition to absorbing useful substances, lamblia constantly release toxins during their life. This leads to suppression of the immune system and the development of a large number of chronic diseases. The fragile organism of infants especially suffers.

Symptoms of childhood giardiasis

The insidiousness of giardiasis is that its symptoms are easily confused with signs of other diseases. It is especially difficult to recognize the disease in children, who find it difficult to accurately describe their condition.

The acute and chronic stages of the disease manifest themselves differently. Let us consider the features of the symptoms of the disease in children:

Symptoms of the acute form, which develops with weakened immunity or simultaneous penetration of a large number of giardiasis cysts into the body:

loss of appetite;
sudden weight loss;
nausea and vomiting;
severe diarrhea;
an increase in temperature, often up to 38°, but in some cases up to 39°, it lasts up to 10 days, not accompanied by other cold symptoms;
bloating;
fever;
choking cough;
stomach ache;
pale skin;
allergies - rashes similar to hives appear;
bruxism – grinding teeth during sleep;
weakness and irritability;
excessive moodiness.

Excessive moodiness is a symptom of Giardia infection

Symptoms of the chronic form of the disease:

constant digestive problems - diarrhea alternating with constipation;
dysbacteriosis;
avitaminosis;
weight loss, in advanced cases leading to anorexia;
frequent headaches;
malaise;
irritability and moodiness;
emotional instability;
a yellow coating forms on the tongue;
flatulence;
dermatitis.

If such symptoms appear, the possibility of Giardia infection should be excluded. It is especially important to do this when the baby’s health periodically deteriorates without objective reasons.

Tests for Giardia in a child - how to take them?

The following tests will help determine Giardia:

Blood for Giardia is taken from a vein. The analysis should be done on an empty stomach in the morning, before breakfast. A child of any age can donate blood for testing.

Scatological analysis– detection of cysts in stool. To carry it out, you need to take some of the child’s feces into a sterile jar in the morning. It is advisable to deliver them to the laboratory within 3-4 hours, where specialists will study the material under a microscope.

The accuracy of the analysis is 60–70%. The reason for this is that even in the presence of Giardia, their cysts do not always end up in the feces. To obtain an objective result, the analysis should be repeated 4-5 times, observing a weekly interval.

Duodenal analysis– involves examining the bile for the presence of cysts. Guarantees high accuracy, but is prescribed only to children over 10 years old. The procedure for collecting bile by probing is not carried out at an earlier age.

How to treat Giardia in children

A well-chosen course of treatment will help you get rid of Giardia. The treatment regimen for giardiasis in children provides for step-by-step therapy, designed for 3 stages:

Enterosorbent Polysorb is well suited for cleansing the body.

Pharmacological drugs, as well as folk recipes, will help cure Giardia. Let's look at the features of taking different medications.

Medicines

Tablets and suspensions intended for the treatment of giardiasis in children:

Nemozol– Available in the form of tablets or suspension. Contains Albendazole. The approximate dose is 10 mg of the drug per 1 kg of body weight for 5–7 days. Side effects may include fever, nausea, and weakness. Contraindications – liver disease, retinal problems, intolerance to components. Price – from 180 rub.
– antimicrobial tablets containing Nifuratel. Prescribed for 7–10 days only for children over 2 years of age. The daily dose should not exceed 0.4 g, it is calculated as follows - 0.15 g of the drug per 1 kg of weight. Take tablets twice a day only after meals. Contraindications: hypersensitivity, neurological disorders, kidney disease. Side effects are rarely diagnosed. Possible nausea, dizziness, weakness. Price – from 860 rub.

Flamin – 30 tablets

Read more about tablets for worming in children.

Folk remedies

To treat children from giardiasis, you can use folk remedies. They are prepared on the basis of natural ingredients, therefore they are more harmless than pharmacological drugs. Let's look at effective recipes:

Horseradish tincture– Cut 2-3 horseradish roots into small pieces and place in a liter jar. Pour cold boiled water over the crushed root and cover tightly with a lid. When the composition has been infused for 3 days at room temperature, it should be strained and mixed with honey in equal proportions. Leave for another 3 days.

Babies up to one year old take 0.5 teaspoon, children under 10 years old - 1 dessert spoon, starting from 11 years old - a tablespoon. Drink 20 minutes before meals three times a day for 10 days. After a week, repeat the course of treatment.

Cucumber tincture– chop 200 g of ripe cucumbers that already have seeds. Place in an enamel container and pour boiling water over it. The product should infuse for 2 hours. It is then strained and stored in the refrigerator. The child should drink 0.5 liters of infusion per day, consuming it throughout the day.
– grind 100 g of peeled seeds in a mortar, add 25 g of honey and water. Give the resulting mixture to the child in the morning on an empty stomach in small portions. He must eat everything in an hour.

To prepare folk recipes, shoots, leaves and bark of aspen, dandelion root, mint, birch buds, celandine, centaury and other plants are also used. Before using a traditional recipe, make sure that your child is not allergic to the ingredients.

Safe treatment always takes place under the supervision of a doctor. Giardiasis is a serious disease, so self-medication is contraindicated.

Diet for giardiasis

The basis of a child’s diet should be porridge, dried fruits, bran, and vegetable oils. Fruits can be given baked. For drinks, you should give preference to sour juices and kefir. During the diet, children should not be given fatty or fried foods, even in small quantities.

Dietary nutrition will speed up the healing process. It should be followed throughout all stages of treatment: from preparatory to restorative.

What does Dr. Komarovsky say?

An interesting point of view on the question of whether giardiasis is so terrible is expressed by Dr. Evgeniy Komarovsky. He rushes to reassure parents and argues that they should first make sure that the disease is present, and then begin treatment, avoiding toxic drugs. His recommendations are presented in more detail in the video.

Disease prevention

To minimize the risk of developing giardiasis in children, parents should monitor compliance with preventive measures:

Compliance with the above rules reduces the risk of Giardia infection by 60%.

Wash vegetables and fruits thoroughly before giving them to your child.

An article about such a phenomenon as giardiasis, treatment in a child using traditional and folk remedies, treatment regimens for giardiasis infection in children are revealed, how the disease is treated, what medications are available, the principles of a therapeutic diet, and what is the danger of invasion for the child’s body.
This is what lamblia looks like in a child’s small intestine - see photo.

Giardiasis is a disease closely related to the group of helminth infections, but is caused by infestation by the protozoan Lamblia intestinalis. The infection is asymptomatic or with the manifestation of enteritis, and can become chronic.

Giardia not only affects humans, but is also widespread in cats, dogs, birds and large mammals. And this makes it even more dangerous for children. There are mainly food and water outbreaks of giardiasis - most often in children under 9 years of age, but even 3-month-old children become infected. This is due to underdeveloped natural immunity and the predominant level of parietal digestion.

Giardia itself of other animals is not dangerous to humans and their offspring. But the same mice, cats and dogs can carry human Giardia cysts on their paws or fur if they walked or swung in grass infected with Lamblia intestinalis cysts.

According to statistics, boys are infected 3 times more often than girls. However, after 10 years, the incidence of the disease in girls exceeds the incidence of boys.

Giardiasis has been known to people for a long time. It is believed that it was first described in 1859 by the Czech anatomist D.F. Lambl, who described in detail what Giardia is. The single-celled pathogen Lamblia was named in his honor.

But in Europe the disease has a different name - giardiasis, and the simplest organism is Giardia. In honor of the French scientist Alfred Giardi, who described the role of Giardia in the formation of diarrhea.

However, earlier mentions of the trophozoid form of Giardia are also known. Thus, back in 1681, the Dutch naturalist A. Leeuwenhoek, using a primitive single-lens microscope (of his own design), discovered Giardia in his own liquid feces.

Is it necessary to treat Giardia in children?

To treat or not to treat Lamblia in children - debates on this topic still do not subside. Scientists identify three main approaches:

Always treat. Russian doctors believe that treatment in children should be carried out even when there are no obvious signs of invasion, and treatment should be carried out in stages; a treatment regimen for giardiasis in children has been developed, plus additional treatment methods (homeopathy and herbal medicine)
Treat only for severe diarrhea. How giardiasis is treated in children in other countries - American experts recommend that treatment for giardiasis in children begin only with severe diarrhea and with severe symptoms, and WHO experts also believe
There is no point in not treating at all. The third approach - treating Giardia in a child does not make sense, since after treatment there is a high risk of re-infection, the body itself will cope with the invasion

Thus, parents, having found out which doctor treats giardiasis in children (and this is a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist), will have to individually resolve this issue with them.

Giardiasis treatment in a child: treatment regimen, duration

In order to get rid of giardiasis infestation, treatment in a child begins only after diagnosis. To the question of how long it takes to treat giardiasis in children, we will answer - the treatment is long, so you need to be patient.

How to cure Giardia in a child? This is a question every parent asks. Treatment of giardiasis infestation is carried out in stages, each stage using a large set of medications that are selected individually.

Let's take a closer look at each stage of how to cure giardiasis in children.

Preparatory stage

The more pronounced the symptoms and the stronger the intoxication, the longer this period is - from 1-2 weeks to 1 month. It begins with a diet, taking enzymatic preparations and sorbents, choleretic agents and antispasmodics (no-spa).
Already at the first stage, the doctor prescribes medications for treatment in order to improve the functioning of the digestive tract, reduce intoxication, and improve immune status. An unfavorable environment for protozoa is created with the help of choleretic drugs - allahol, mannitol. Antihistamines (Zyrtec, Telfast) are prescribed.

Smecta or polysorb are used as sorbents, and enzymes such as enzistal, hilak-forte, festal, mezim-forte. The dose of the drug and the regimen of administration are prescribed only by a doctor.

Throughout the treatment, a therapeutic diet is used and carbohydrates are limited.

Special drugs are introduced that can destroy the protozoa. These are metronidazole, tinidazole, furazolidone, mepacrine, makmiror, nemazole, albendazole. Usually after 3-5 days of therapy health condition worsens due to toxins entering the blood.

Configured to increase protective forces, normalize inflamed areas of the intestines, eliminate intestinal dysbiosis, cleanse from decay products, eliminate vitamin deficiency. A diet is again prescribed (porridge, vegetable purees, fruits, vegetables, sour dairy products). Very baked apples recommended to enhance intestinal motility.

To reduce the toxic effects of protozoan breakdown products, children aged 5 years and above are recommended to drink mineral water 1 to 2 times a week. To do this, you should take 200 ml of warm mineral water early in the morning on an empty stomach, lay the child on his right side with a warm heating pad for 1 hour.

The doctor decides how to treat Giardia in children, since various factors play a role here: the effectiveness of the drug, its tolerability and safety, the age and concomitant diseases of the child are taken into account.

For the treatment of giardiasis infection, drugs of 3 groups are used:

Therapeutic diet for giardiasis

The therapeutic diet accompanies treatment throughout all stages and for several months after it. Simple carbohydrates – pasta, baked goods – are completely excluded from the diet. Because sugars help create a favorable background for the life and reproduction of the simplest organism. Exclude fresh milk, sausages and cereals such as oats, millet, rye.

The diet of children should contain more acids, since Giardia cannot live in an acidic environment. Introduce a lot of sour berries and fruits into the diet. Drink plenty of fruit drinks and compotes.

Stewed vegetables, buckwheat and rice can be served as side dishes. You can eat lactic acid products rich in bifidobacteria. Low-fat varieties of fish and meat are preferred.

It is not always possible to treat giardiasis with protozoal drugs. If you have chronic gastrointestinal diseases, it is better not to use medications so as not to provoke an exacerbation.

And here traditional medicine will be a worthy alternative.

There are many folk remedies - these are all kinds of decoctions, tinctures, mixtures of various plants: bearberry, horseradish, garlic, oatmeal, cloves and flax, and others.

It is described in more detail in a separate article - follow the link, especially if you do not want to use chemicals with their side effects.

Even official medicine does not deny the effective role of folk remedies in the treatment of giardiasis.

They must be purchased at a pharmacy.

Treatment is carried out in two cycles of 10 days with a 10-day break. Take herbs:

Mix the required amount of herbs, pour 1.5 cups of boiling water. Let it brew for 2 hours. Give your child ½ glass of infusion three times a day, an hour before meals.

On the day of treatment, give 1 glass of 2-day kefir to drink at night. Eliminate milk, sugar, any sweets, carbonated drinks, white bread, yeast-containing foods and fruits from your diet. The effectiveness of treatment is 92%.

Herbal remedy Tanaxol for children against giardiasis

Another good herbal supplement (dietary supplement), which appeared relatively recently, has also earned positive reviews from medical specialists in the treatment of Giardia in children. This is the most gentle drug available, especially for children.

It includes:

tansy
buckthorn bark
Solyanka kholmovaya
wormwood
yarrow

1 year 1/8 teaspoon
2 years – ¼ teaspoon
3 years – 1/3 teaspoon
7 years old – 2/3 teaspoon

For adolescents over 12 years of age, take 1 teaspoon, three times a day, half an hour after meals. Therapeutic course is from 7 to 10 days.

Why is giardiasis dangerous in a child?

Vitamin deficiency develops, and development and growth begin to lag. The functioning of the immune system is inhibited, dermatitis and severe allergic manifestations appear. Bronchitis develops, turning into chronic, frequent colds, and bronchial asthma may develop.

The functioning of the digestive and nervous systems is disrupted. Fatigue and weakness appear, the child becomes nervous, suffers from mood swings, and hand tremors are observed. Lymph nodes are often enlarged.

I suggest watching a video where experts will talk about the disease caused by Giardia and methods of treatment for it.

So, now you know what giardiasis is, treatment of this disease in a child using traditional and folk methods, what treatment regimen exists, and its medications, the essence and principles of a therapeutic diet. The answer to the question is also given: is it necessary to treat Giardia in children and what is their danger to the child’s body.

Teach your child the rules of personal hygiene - this is the key to his health!