Giardiasis Diagnosis
Diagnosis
Your doctor will ask about your medical history, if I could have had contact with contaminated water during camping or hiking, and if your water is from wells. If the patient is a child attending day care, the doctor will ask about any recent diarrhea outbreak in the nursery and also review the patient’s symptoms.
Finally, the diagnosis is made by analyzing fecal matter in search of Giardia antigen, a protein produced by the parasites of G. lamblia, or by identifying cysts of G. lamblia or parasites in stool samples.
May be necessary to collect several stool samples because the infection can be detected only in a portion of the stool samples collected, even when no infection. Less frequently, the diagnosis may require an examination of the intestine with a procedure called endoscopy. By this procedure, an instrument called an endoscope through the mouth into the intestine. The endoscope is a narrow instrument, flexible and shaped like a cord having a camera on the end. If necessary, your doctor may use endoscopy to take a small piece of tissue from your small intestine (biopsy) for examination in a laboratory.
Duration
The worst symptoms of giardiasis usually lasts five to seven days, if not delayed diagnosis and treatment. Symptoms can last several months to disappear completely after treatment ends. It is common intolerance to milk and other dairy products containing lactose during the first months after Giardia infection. In some people who are not treated, the infection can cause repeated attacks of abdominal pain and diarrhea for a year or more.