[pct-l] Re: Giardia

[Greg Hummel <ghummel@hydrogenburner.com>]

I, for one, knew next to nothing about Giardia until I joined this list.  I
am only interested in attaining more information about Giardia and could
care less if Flagyl (sp?) is an antibiotic or not.  Let's not flame over
this, let's just supply the info.

I'm sure I am not the only one who questions where and when I should be
concerned about potential exposure, why it is a problem now and not twenty
years ago (Where did it come from? Was it always here and not recognized?
Was it due to human impact and if so why isn't it getting better?  Does
freezing kill it, thus it regenerates or is re-introduced every year?)

I had, what sounds like Giardia symptoms, back in '77 from drinking out of
an extremely low reservoir without treating the water (even a dumb idea
back then!).  Surely, some biology student looked at the spirokeets (sp?)
growing in marshes and polluted waterways back in the intense environmental
'70's.  Was Giardia present then?

So many questions, so little information.
So many places to explore, so little time.
Such a great world, such small people! ;-)

IMIO,

Greg "Strider" Hummel
* From the Pacific Crest Trail Email List |  http://www.backcountry.net   *

==============================================================================