Giardiasis and Other Parasitic Infections

Abstract

Parasitic infection is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In the United States it has generally been treated as an exotic sideline to general medicine, relevant primarily to international travelers. With increasing immigration of refugee populations from Third World countries, however, various pathogens that were previously rare in the United States are being found to be endemic, not only in newly arrived but also in established immigrant communities.1 In addition, in populations experiencing the onslaught of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), parasites previously thought to be benign are being reclassified as pathogens, and patients who have been asymptomatic carriers of small burdens of infection can become overwhelmed as their immune systems deteriorate.2 Therefore familiarity with the field of parasitology has become an important part of the family practitioner’s job. This chapter does not attempt to comprehensively cover all diagnosis and treatment of parasitic infection. Instead it attempts to provide a strategy with which to approach potential parasitic infection.