[pct-l] Giardia

jack kendrick jackkendrick84 at frontier.com
Sun Sep 9 16:06:46 CDT 2012


             I have lived all my life in the Pacific Northwest. As a teen in the 1940's Ii drank from almost any water source. The common myth at the time was that flowing water purified itself in 100 feet. In the 1970's Giardia became an issue in local waters. This coincided with the arrival of refugees from Vietnam. Is this a valid connection I cannot say. Perhaps others can comment on this.																																						      Giardia does not affect everyone in the same way. In certain parts of the world (Leningrad)) giardia is endemic with no apparent symptoms. A personal friend lost 40 pounds before the cause was identified as Giardia. She thought she was dying and rightfully so. This occurred many years ago before Giardia was widely recognized . Some infected people show mild symptoms and become carriers. I know this for I was a carrier. On a trip down the Yukon river in the 1980's I drank from a beaver pond. I developed mild, cyclic diarrhea which did not concern me as I always had a sensitive digestive tract. Some years later I discussed these symptoms with my doctor and Giardia medication was prescribed. The cyclic diarrhea disappeared. Treating or filtering water is a common sense solution to the existing problem. 
 


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