Blood test for Giardia in children
Giardiasis is a very serious disease, so its timely diagnosis is very important for the appointment of the correct treatment for the child. One of the examinations prescribed for children to confirm infection with Giardia is a blood test. This study identifies antibodies in the child’s blood that occur in response to parasites entering the child’s body. But in order for such an analysis to help in the diagnosis of giardiasis, parents should know how and why it is performed.
When to take
The child is sent for a blood test in order to detect giardiasis if the doctor suspects that the baby has such a disease. The following clinical symptoms may induce the idea of lamblia infection:
- Abdominal pain (often in the navel).
- Liquefied chair.
- Attacks of vomiting.
- Frequent swelling and rumbling in the abdomen.
- The alternation of diarrhea and constipation.
- The appearance of thick light bloom on the tongue.
- Pallor of the skin or its "marble" hue.
- Dry and flaky skin.
- The appearance of a rash on the skin.
- Increased irritability and fatigue.
- Deterioration in the sleep and appetite of the child, as well as weight loss.
Giardiasis often begins with symptoms that occur with any intestinal infection., but in some patients such an infection is hidden, therefore children must be checked for Giardia, if these protozoa are found in one of the family members. In such a situation, a blood test is recommended for anyone who lives with a person suffering from giardiasis in the same house and often communicates with him.
Watch the recording of Dr. Komarovsky’s program, which details the topic of giardiasis in children:
How to pass
To identify Giardia in the body of a child, blood is taken from a vein. A blood sample is taken in the morning on an empty stomach. Before analysis, the child should not eat any food for 8-10 hours, and you should not drink any drinks other than non-carbonated pure water. Violating such recommendations, you can get unreliable results.
If the child is taking any medications, this may also affect the effectiveness of the examination, so the doctor should be warned about taking any medications in advance. Besides, Immediately before taking blood, a child should not have physical exertion, an X-ray examination, a session of physiotherapy or emotional stress.
Deciphering blood test for Giardia in children
This blood test, which is an enzyme immunoassay, detects several types of antibodies in a child’s blood:
- IgM to Giardia, which appear in the baby’s blood one or two weeks after infection with such parasites. Their detection often indicates an acute process, and the absence of IgG confirms the infection duration not more than 1-3 months.
- IgG, which are formed in the body of a child with giardiasis after a while (usually 2-4 weeks after infection) and remain in the blood for a long period - sometimes up to 6 months after recovery. The absence of IgM in the presence of IgG to lamblia often confirms the illness or carrier of Giardia.
Decoding analysis should be carried out by a doctor, necessarily taking into account the clinical manifestations and other examinations (in particular, the analysis of feces). Only after evaluating all the data, you can make a diagnosis of giardiasis and prescribe a treatment for the baby with which the child’s body will get rid of these parasites.
The most common treatment used metronidazole, furazolidone, tinidazole and albendazole, but only a doctor should prescribe a dosage of such effective anti lamblia agents.
To treat giardiasis on their own is unacceptable.
In addition to anti-parasitic drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, sorbents, enzymes and other drugs are shown to children with lubliosis.. It is also important to stick to a diet that includes sources of plant fiber.
14 days after the end of treatment with antiparasitic agents, the child is prescribed to re-examine feces and blood to determine the activity of the infection and the effectiveness of the treatment. If Giardia is detected again, the child is prescribed another treatment.
Accuracy of blood test on Giardia
Many doctors refer to the blood test on Giardia with distrust, because:
- The study does not allow you to accurately set the time when the child became infected with parasites, since immunoglobulins M are not produced from the first days of the disease (they are often detected only from the second or third week after infection), and immunoglobulins G remain in the blood for several months after recovery.
- The titer titer of immunoglobulins for Giardia is different in different laboratories, therefore, only those physicians who have previously collaborated with a specific laboratory should evaluate the result of the analysis.
Because of such factors, blood test for lamblia is not considered the most accurate. Many doctors believe that the detection of antibodies to lamblii can not serve as a reliable marker of the presence of infection, and does not allow us to judge how effective the therapy is. They advise you to combine a blood test with a stool test, since the detection efficiency of Giardia when combining such diagnostic methods reaches 90%.
