Dr. Komarovsky on the symptoms and treatment of Giardia in children

If lamblia was discovered in a child, many parents have no idea who these creatures are and how they can be dangerous. Doctors and the Internet scare moms and dads with horrendous consequences, but often this is the case when the word itself is more terrible than what lies behind it. Authoritative pediatrician Evgeny Komarovsky talks about how to accept such a diagnosis as giardiasis, what to do and how to treat a child.

Doctors call Giardiasis a disease that is caused by single-celled organisms - the simplest Giardia. They live in the small intestine. The parasites themselves are divided into two types: active and live, with flagella tentacles, which they deftly wield and stick to the wall of the small intestine, and fixed and inactive, which are called Giardia cysts.

It is easier to get infected with Giardia, it's enough not to wash the fruits and vegetables bought on the market, or to wash your hands less often, especially after playing outside, on public transport, shopping.

The simplest parasites penetrate the mouth and enter the small intestine.

There they live, multiply (sometimes very actively), sometimes cause irritation of the mucous membrane of this part of the intestine.

If living and vigorous Giardias penetrate the large intestine, they die, because there is no suitable habitat for them. These individuals, which have become cysts, are excreted with feces.

Quite often there are no symptoms at all. It is possible to detect lamblia cysts quite by chance when a child passes tests for admission to kindergarten or after another previous illness, when it is necessary to examine feces. Sometimes giardiasis can manifest itself in the following clinical picture:

• Frequent pain in the upper abdomen, around the navel.
• Increased flatulence, bloating, gas.
• Frequent nausea and vomiting The child has.
• Stool Disorders - diarrhea alternating with constipation and vice versa.
• Atopic dermatitis (popularly called diathesis).
• Fatigue, slow weight gain, restless and unhealthy sleep, headaches, irritability and tearfulness.

However, it is not always possible to find cysts in it, and then, in the presence of characteristic symptoms, the doctor prescribes an unpleasant procedure - the insertion of a one-and-a-half-meter probe through the mouth to examine duodenal contents. In addition, they prescribe a blood test for the presence of antibodies to Giardia, such antibodies, according to medical reference, usually appear about a month after infection.

About 30% of the world's population is infected with the simplest lamblia, says Komarovsky, and most of them are children. Despite the fact that mankind has already known about lamblia for several centuries (they were discovered in 1861), these single-celled ones are shrouded in a veil of secrets and myths.

The first one is excessive danger. Yevgeny Komarovsky says that many patients, and even doctors, are also inclined to exaggerate the harm done to the body by Giardia.

The second is the habitat.If the doctor tells you that Giardia lives in the liver or gallbladder, and therefore becomes the cause of cirrhosis and biliary dyskinesia, you should run away from such a doctor as soon as possible and as far as possible. Giardia anywhere except the small intestine, can not survive.

Before, almost until the middle of the 20th century, doctors really believed that Giardia and bile ducts, as well as liver diseases, are interconnected. But then numerous studies have refuted this information. In particular, it was revealed that rather “frail” Giardia, which are not able to survive in conditions of the large intestine, in principle, cannot exist in such an aggressive environment as human bile.

Not everything is just the case with the diagnosis of the disease.

The only reliable analysis Komarovsky calls analysis of feces for Giardia cysts. The remaining methods, including blood tests, will not show a reliable picture.

Evgeny Olegovich encourages parents not to become victims of fraudsters if someone promises that with the help of the latest computer diagnostics, he will find Giardia and other parasites for a child for a small fee. These protozoa can not be detected either on x-rays or on ultrasound.

If a child has cysts found in feces, then this is no reason to sound the alarm, says Yevgeny Komarovsky.

Treatment with established giardiasis is not always required, says the doctor. Immunity of the child begins to "work" against Giardia from the moment when it sticks to the wall of the small intestine.

In a healthy child, the immune defense is able to create such unbearable conditions for the simplest organism such as giardia that the parasite leaves the body itself, without tablets, ultrasound waves, folk remedies and other methods that today offer medicine traditional and unconventional.

A large load on children's immunity does not have giardiasis.

Doctors established this when they observed how the disease occurs in children with severe congenital forms of immunodeficiency (HIV). Their condition was no different from the state of their healthy peers.

This does not mean that giardiasis does not need to be treated at all. There are particularly difficult situations in which a specific treatment regimen is needed.

If a child has diarrhea with identified lamblia lasts for more than 10 days, if all the other symptoms are present, including weight loss and pathological loss of appetite, if the child also has atopic dermatitis, treatment may be necessary. Komarovsky stresses that such a need really arises extremely rarely.

The World Health Organization establishes the only indication for the treatment of giardiasis - long-term diarrhea. If this symptom does not exist, medication or other treatment is not necessary.

If the treatment is still indicated, then there is no need to tune in to long-term therapy. Today, according to Komarovsky, there are very effective drugs that can get rid of parasites as soon as possible - from 1 to 3 days. The doctor must prescribe them.

The usual treatment regimen includes the use of drugs such as "Trichopol», «Furazolidone"," Tiberal.

They can be added antihistamines, as well as enterosorbents.

A special diet has been recommended for almost all young patients, which has a positive effect on intestinal motility (cereals, applesauce, dairy products).

For long-term diarrhea, which requires urgent intervention, often recommend drugs that can be taken once, such as "Tinidazole." Often it is recommended to take the whole family, where at least one of the household began to suffer an acute form of giardiasis. Another effective remedy is Albendazole, the treatment course of which will be 5 days.

Hand washing is a good habit, but it almost does not protect against Giardia, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. The fact is that these protozoa are found not only in humans, but also in animals, and if a dog or cat went to the toilet in the courtyard where the child walks, then with great probability he will bring home on the shoes Giardia cysts, which, when released into favorable the environment of the small intestine will come to life and begin to be active.

In addition, Giardia beautifully distributed in water, including drinking. And today, with the quality of drinking water in most Russian cities, things are pretty abysmal. Moreover, the standard chlorination of water cysts Giardia does not kill.

The doctor focuses on the fact that properly washing your hands means that you must wash them for at least 20-30 seconds with baby soap.

Teaching a child to wash hands is not enough. It will be good if parents activate all their pedagogical skills and show maximum intelligence and teach the child not to lick hands. For this, all the methods are good - from talking heart to heart before smearing the handles with viburnum juice or mustard.

Fight mercilessly with flies.

They are 100% carriers of cysts, and therefore must be destroyed.

If you treat the child for gallbladder problems long and unsuccessfully, and the doctor says that the reason is lamblia, you should refuse to visit such a doctor.

If the doctor says that the skin diseases in a child are aggravated because of Giardia, and they, these very simple ones, are guilty of frequent diseases of ARVI, Colds and other viral illnesses, do not believe. Giardia such do not know how.

If after all the arguments the parents still have a strong desire to crack down on these parasites by hook or by crook, Komarovsky warns that relief may not be long: some protozoa can be destroyed, others will settle in the children's organism after a few days, perhaps even hours.

You will learn more about the recommendations of Dr. Komarovsky from the following video.