If you’ve read enough of our park pages, you will notice that Giardia warnings are fairly frequent in the national parks. So what in the world is it?
Giardia is a parasite found in contaminated water. It actually has two forms: a dormant cyst and a trophozite, the disease-forming one. Since the cysts are hardy little buggers, they can survive even very cold water. When someone ingests the cyst, it changes into a trophozite, attaching itself on the intestinal wall and living off the “fat-of-the-land”. Now some of these are carried out with feces, but they often end up contaminating other water sources, thus spreading the organism. The treatment is antibiotics.
The symptoms can take from 7-10 days to show up and usually by that time, the victim is already back home. The victim usually has flu like symptoms which make them forget that they were out in the wilderness and could have possibly ingested contaminated water. Also, not everyone gets sick from the cysts, confusing the diagnosis even further. You can usually expect explosive diarrhea, bloating and cramps, horrible gas, severe vomiting, weight loss, and loss of appetite. If not treated, you could end up with long-term gastrointestinal problems.
The best bet is prevention. Treat all water sources by boiling for at least one minute, using water purification systems or chemical treatments. Follow all rules about distance from water sources for camping and stock use. When possible, bring your own water.