Giardia

Giardia (pronounced jar-deeya) is a tiny germ that causes diarrhea.

 

• Symptoms may take one to three weeks to show up.  Some people have no symptoms.

• It can cause severe diarrhea and nausea and vomiting.  You may also have chills, headache, and tiredness, stomach pain and severe gas.  

• It is spread from person to person by touching human or animal feces (stool) or from drinking infected water.
• Day-care centers, retirement centers and families with a sick person can spread the sickness quickly. Children who have diarrhea should not attend daycare until they feel better for at least 24 hours.
• People who touch food in restaurants can pass the illness on to customers. 

• Take care when camping, canoeing or hiking.  Just because water looks clean does not mean it is.  It is not safe to drink water in the woods or at a cottage unless it has been properly cleaned. Boiling water for five minutes will kill the germs.

• Be careful when traveling outside of Canada.  Drinking unclean water or eating food that has been washed in it can make you sick.  Even brushing teeth with unclean tap water is unsafe.  Many cases of "traveler’s diarrhea" turn out to be giardiasis.

• A doctor should see children with vomiting or diarrhea because they can lose too much water from their body quickly. Anyone who has had diarrhea for more than a few days should see their doctor and have a stool test done. There is treatment for giardiasis.

• Wash your hands very well after using the toilet or changing a diaper, and always before touching food.