[pct-l] Anyone gotten Giardia on the PCT?

[Gerry Zamora]

I lived in quincy while going to school took alot of day hikes as I lived
off the north fork of the feather river which ran through my backyard I
would grab my dog and some snacks and would be gone all day I never drank
from the river its self but drank from streams and springs that fed the
river and never got sick once.  I would drink straight from the sorce.  I
guess I was pretty north but water was good and never got ill none of my
friends joined me as they all thought I was crazy.
Gerry
On Jan 10, 2011 7:06 AM, "jason moores" <jmmoores at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Buck,
>
> This can be a difficult question to answer for many reasons. Quite a few
hikers report having Giardia on the trail, but few actually seem to seek
medical help for the symptoms. Beyond that is determining where one actually
became ill, due to the amount of time that it can take for symptoms to
present. I would hazard to guess that the majority of these cases involve
food borne illnesses or are due to poor hygiene. There is also "town-itis"
which comes from overdoing it in town-the human body can only ingest x
amount of fat in a given period of time, the rest is voided from the body in
an unpleasant way.
>
> In '09 my fiance suffered very specific gastro intestinal symptoms that
pointed to Crypto. We sought medical help in Mountain Mesa, where they
performed over $4,000 in tests only to inform us that all of their tests
were inconclusive. The doctor prescribed broad spectrum antibiotics anyway,
and the symptoms went away. Did she have Crypto, who can say? We spoke to a
number of other hikers who told us that they had suffered from exactly the
same GI problems, but again there is no real certainty that they had Crypto
nor that their problems could be definitively blamed on a specific water
source. We did have our own theories though- more than one hiker(including
ourselves) timed their symptoms back to their time around Hikertown. I don't
personally blame Rick at Hikertown for this because: a) we have no proof b)
there are "sketchy" water sources both before and after Hikertown c) even
the doctors were unable to diagnose the problem when they were specifically
looking for a water-
> borne illness.
>
> Over the past several years hikers have complained of Giardia and Crypto
symptoms after hiking out of Kennedy Meadows. Now the areas just north of KM
still see a good deal of cattle activity and the "swallow" bridge over the
Kern River is a very possible source of illness, but again I've heard of no
real proof that this is the case. It's just as plausible that hikers became
sick at KM(disclaimer: I love the folk in KM and do not mean this as a
criticism of the Store, the cleanliness of their food-service or the water
in the meadow). And again there are some "sketchy" sources in the miles
before KM. With all of the hikers congregating in large numbers, for
multiple days in the meadow, this could just as easily be the problem. Many
hands are shaken, food shared and bottles passed.
>
> While living in Stehekin in '08 I read a Forest Service report that found
very little evidence of Giardia in the Sierra and Cascade ranges. I don't
usually trust what the gov. tells me, but...
>
> In the end I don't doubt that hikers contract these illnesses while on the
trail, I only question where and how. I find it much more likely that the
preponderance of GI problems stem from poor hygiene-that of the individual
or that passed on by others. In '09 and '10 many hikers refused to shake
hands with others for this reason(myself included). Instead we chose to
"bump" fists when meeting hikers or better yet, hugged each other when
reunited(which is always better). No matter how vigilant we are about
treating our water or post lavatory hygiene it is impossible to be 100%
certain that cross-contamination isn't occurring.
>
> Do what you can to mitigate and go with the "flow" the rest of the time.
>
> Jackass
>
>
>> Date: Sat, 8 Jan 2011 07:41:06 -0900
>> From: buck at bucktrack.com
>> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
>> Subject: [pct-l] Anyone gotten Giardia on the PCT?
>>
>> Hikers often talk about whether it is necessary to treat water on the
>> Pacific Crest Trail. I thought we might try to get a feel for how often
>> hikers actually get Giardia in the "real world."
>>
>> Years ago I had Giardia, twice, and vowed to treat all water in the
future.
>> I faithfully treated water up until last summer. After reading an article
>> about the low likelihood of getting Giardia from drinking water, I only
>> treated on a case-by-case basis. Instead, I focused on hand hygiene and
not
>> passing food back and forth with other hikers.
>>
>> I got sick at Sonora Pass while southbound during my flip. After a couple
of
>> days I felt better, but I got sick again in Mammoth. Experience told me
it
>> was likely Giardia. The doctor concurred. He gave me Tinidazole and in 24
>> hours I had recovered, if somewhat weakened.
>>
>> Bottom line: beyond a reasonable doubt I got Giardia from untreated
drinking
>> water.
>>
>> - Have any of you, or anyone you know personally, gotten Giardia on the
>> PCT?
>> - Were you diagnosed by a doctor?
>> - Were you treating all water?
>> - What's your best guess as to how you got it?
>> - Where on the trail did you get it?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Colter
>>
>> 2010 PCT Thru-hike
>> http://www.bucktrack.com/PCT.html
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