[pct-l] Giardia Lamblia and Giardiasis

[csxii at schizoaffective.org]

Giardia Lamblia and Giardiasis
With Particular Attention to the Sierra Nevada
By Robert L. Rockwell	June 4, 2003 
[PDF version] 

 
	
Figure 1.  Trophozoite Emerging from Cyst[1] 	Figure 2.  Trophozoite
Undergoing Division1

Introduction

Ask the average outdoors person about Giardia lamblia, and they have
certainly heard about it.  Almost always, however, they are
considerably misinformed about both the organism’s significance in
wilder­ness water and the seriousness of the disease, giardiasis, if
contracted.

The amount of information easily found on the subject is voluminous.
Unfortunately, almost all of it is flawed in important aspects, being
unsubstantiated, anecdotal or speculative.  Official informational
publications put out by the United States government are far from
immune to this criticism.

This paper is the result of a critical distillation of relevant
articles, retaining only those from scholarly, peer-reviewed, or
otherwise professional and trustworthy sources.

One conclusion of this paper is that you can indeed contract
giardiasis on visits to the high mountains of the Sierra Nevada, but
it almost certainly won’t be from the water.  So drink freely and
confidently.  Proper personal hygiene is far more impor­tant in
avoiding giardiasis than treating the water.

(more)
http://lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/pcs/articles/giardia.asp