Giardia? Myth or Mystery?
by Kathleen Meyer
May 2011
May 2011
In recent years, hot controversy over Giardia’s backcountry prevalence has arisen from corners of the outdoor community. It boils down to a few questions. Is it worth humping around field water treatment apparatus to protect yourself? Or is Giardia’s incidence overblown? Is fearmongering what’s promoting an industry of water treatment kits? Or is caution the sensible way to go?
Airing divergent views has always seemed to me a worthy endeavor. For the sake of focus, let’s confine the discussion to protozoa and not wander off into viruses and bacteria, which entail different field water treatment approaches. I’ll just get us started with a little background . . .
Airing divergent views has always seemed to me a worthy endeavor. For the sake of focus, let’s confine the discussion to protozoa and not wander off into viruses and bacteria, which entail different field water treatment approaches. I’ll just get us started with a little background . . .
Giardia is a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal illness known as giardiasis. Image taken from the CDC Web site.
Giardiasis is the name of the nasty intestinal affliction caused by the Giardia lamblia parasite. More commonly called Giardia, its symptoms can included the sudden onset of explosive diarrhea; a large volume of foul-smelling, loose (but not watery) stools, accompanied by abdominal distention, flatulence, and cramping; plus, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, headache, and low-grade fever. Acute symptoms can last 7–21 days, and chronic symptoms can persistent or become relapsing. Giardia is spread by fecal-oral transmission; meaning, it’s shed in the feces of one person and then ingested by another person, generally via contaminated hands and food. If you’re traveling and cooking in groups, a good preventative is to have all engage in obsessive hand washing, Howard Hughes-style.
Seemingly, to complicate matters, it’s possible for a person to have Giardia and not know it. Such individuals are called “asymptomatic carriers” and, although they remain untroubled by symptoms and do not appear ill, they can pass along the affliction. The waterborne dormant cyst stage of Giardia is what’s known to survive in field water, particularly cold water, for long periods of time. Many animals carry strains of Giardia, and it’s an unfinished story as to which are zoonotic (passed from animal to human). Lucky for us, a filter with an absolute pore size of 3.0 microns will screen out all protozoan cysts.
For some thirty years now, the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention has not guaranteed that any of the world’s surface water is Giardia-free. And yet, that doesn’t mean every bucketful scooped from a stream contains cysts.
As the breathing repository of countless divulged shitty stories, I hereby offer a couple of pertinent fringe observations. (1) Blanket statements when issued by a federal agency have a tendency to spark, especially among us fiercely independent (I won’t say anarchical) outdoor sorts, an automatic contrary opinion, coupled with the ineluctable challenge to disprove. (2) The sunny-of-heart high-country trekker—or determined “go-lighter” (term for trimming down gear to a minimal few pounds)—will sometimes pride herself on scouting out trustworthy headwaters and not having to tote a field water treatment kit. If she/he can do it, could not we all?
Seemingly, to complicate matters, it’s possible for a person to have Giardia and not know it. Such individuals are called “asymptomatic carriers” and, although they remain untroubled by symptoms and do not appear ill, they can pass along the affliction. The waterborne dormant cyst stage of Giardia is what’s known to survive in field water, particularly cold water, for long periods of time. Many animals carry strains of Giardia, and it’s an unfinished story as to which are zoonotic (passed from animal to human). Lucky for us, a filter with an absolute pore size of 3.0 microns will screen out all protozoan cysts.
For some thirty years now, the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention has not guaranteed that any of the world’s surface water is Giardia-free. And yet, that doesn’t mean every bucketful scooped from a stream contains cysts.
As the breathing repository of countless divulged shitty stories, I hereby offer a couple of pertinent fringe observations. (1) Blanket statements when issued by a federal agency have a tendency to spark, especially among us fiercely independent (I won’t say anarchical) outdoor sorts, an automatic contrary opinion, coupled with the ineluctable challenge to disprove. (2) The sunny-of-heart high-country trekker—or determined “go-lighter” (term for trimming down gear to a minimal few pounds)—will sometimes pride herself on scouting out trustworthy headwaters and not having to tote a field water treatment kit. If she/he can do it, could not we all?
As usual, not much but pore size is absolute, or even simple. Got an opinion? Jump in. Survived Giardia, yourself? Share some details (anonymously, if you prefer).
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Giardia? Myth or Mystery?
by Kathleen Meyer
May 2011
May 2011
In recent years, hot controversy over Giardia’s backcountry prevalence has arisen from corners of the outdoor community. It boils down to a few questions. Is it worth humping around field water treatment apparatus to protect yourself? Or is Giardia’s incidence overblown? Is fearmongering what’s promoting an industry of water treatment kits? Or is caution the sensible way to go?
Airing divergent views has always seemed to me a worthy endeavor. For the sake of focus, let’s confine the discussion to protozoa and not wander off into viruses and bacteria, which entail different field water treatment approaches. I’ll just get us started with a little background . . .
Airing divergent views has always seemed to me a worthy endeavor. For the sake of focus, let’s confine the discussion to protozoa and not wander off into viruses and bacteria, which entail different field water treatment approaches. I’ll just get us started with a little background . . .
Giardia is a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal illness known as giardiasis. Image taken from the CDC Web site.
Giardiasis is the name of the nasty intestinal affliction caused by the Giardia lamblia parasite. More commonly called Giardia, its symptoms can included the sudden onset of explosive diarrhea; a large volume of foul-smelling, loose (but not watery) stools, accompanied by abdominal distention, flatulence, and cramping; plus, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, headache, and low-grade fever. Acute symptoms can last 7–21 days, and chronic symptoms can persistent or become relapsing. Giardia is spread by fecal-oral transmission; meaning, it’s shed in the feces of one person and then ingested by another person, generally via contaminated hands and food. If you’re traveling and cooking in groups, a good preventative is to have all engage in obsessive hand washing, Howard Hughes-style.
Seemingly, to complicate matters, it’s possible for a person to have Giardia and not know it. Such individuals are called “asymptomatic carriers” and, although they remain untroubled by symptoms and do not appear ill, they can pass along the affliction. The waterborne dormant cyst stage of Giardia is what’s known to survive in field water, particularly cold water, for long periods of time. Many animals carry strains of Giardia, and it’s an unfinished story as to which are zoonotic (passed from animal to human). Lucky for us, a filter with an absolute pore size of 3.0 microns will screen out all protozoan cysts.
For some thirty years now, the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention has not guaranteed that any of the world’s surface water is Giardia-free. And yet, that doesn’t mean every bucketful scooped from a stream contains cysts.
As the breathing repository of countless divulged shitty stories, I hereby offer a couple of pertinent fringe observations. (1) Blanket statements when issued by a federal agency have a tendency to spark, especially among us fiercely independent (I won’t say anarchical) outdoor sorts, an automatic contrary opinion, coupled with the ineluctable challenge to disprove. (2) The sunny-of-heart high-country trekker—or determined “go-lighter” (term for trimming down gear to a minimal few pounds)—will sometimes pride herself on scouting out trustworthy headwaters and not having to tote a field water treatment kit. If she/he can do it, could not we all?
Seemingly, to complicate matters, it’s possible for a person to have Giardia and not know it. Such individuals are called “asymptomatic carriers” and, although they remain untroubled by symptoms and do not appear ill, they can pass along the affliction. The waterborne dormant cyst stage of Giardia is what’s known to survive in field water, particularly cold water, for long periods of time. Many animals carry strains of Giardia, and it’s an unfinished story as to which are zoonotic (passed from animal to human). Lucky for us, a filter with an absolute pore size of 3.0 microns will screen out all protozoan cysts.
For some thirty years now, the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention has not guaranteed that any of the world’s surface water is Giardia-free. And yet, that doesn’t mean every bucketful scooped from a stream contains cysts.
As the breathing repository of countless divulged shitty stories, I hereby offer a couple of pertinent fringe observations. (1) Blanket statements when issued by a federal agency have a tendency to spark, especially among us fiercely independent (I won’t say anarchical) outdoor sorts, an automatic contrary opinion, coupled with the ineluctable challenge to disprove. (2) The sunny-of-heart high-country trekker—or determined “go-lighter” (term for trimming down gear to a minimal few pounds)—will sometimes pride herself on scouting out trustworthy headwaters and not having to tote a field water treatment kit. If she/he can do it, could not we all?
As usual, not much but pore size is absolute, or even simple. Got an opinion? Jump in. Survived Giardia, yourself? Share some details (anonymously, if you prefer).
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© 2011 by Author Kathleen Meyer • All Rights Reserved
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© 2011 by Author Kathleen Meyer • All Rights Reserved
Web site design by RapidRiver.us