A Clinico-Epidemiological Study Of Giardiasis in Children in Rural Punjab, Pakistan.

Abstract

Background: Giardiasis is defined as symptomatic or asymptomatic infection by the ubiquitous enteric protozoan, Giardia lamblia that occurs from tropics to Arctic Greenland with global incidence of up to 30%. Although this
cosmopolitan organism affects sexes and all ages, majority of cases occur in infants and children who are more
vulnerable to its ill effects.
Objective: This study was conducted, to investigate the prevalence of Giardia lamblia.
Methods: This study was conducted on a randomly selected population of 232 children of both sexes
Result:: Giardia lamblia was the most commonly encountered parasite with a prevalence of 24.2%. All cases
were subjected to a thorough clinical examination to differentiate symptomatic from asymptomatic, the figures
being 88.5% and 11.5% respectively. In the symptomatic group, 21.7% were having atypical manifestations.
Maximum cases were in the 5-9 years age group and males were more affected than females. Poor socioeconomic status, over-crowding, inadequate sanitary practices and environmental contamination were among
possible risk factors involved in etiopathogenesis. Parasitological and clinical cure were obtained in 96.1% and
91.3% of the cases respectively, with secnidazole. The cases were followed up for three months to look for relapse, which occurred in 16.6% of cases.
Keywords: Giardiasis, Giardia lamblia, Children, Punjab, Pakistan.