Giardia In Children, Symptoms And Treatment Of The Disease

2023 Author: Riley Dean | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 08:37

Signs of lamblia in a child and treatment options for the disease

Content

1 What is giardiasis
2 Symptoms of giardiasis in children
3 Diagnosis of giardiasis
4 Treatment of giardiasis in children
- 4.1 Preparatory phase
- 4.2 Main stage
  - 4.2.1 Metronidazole
  - 4.2.2 Furazolidone
  - 4.2.3 Tinidazole
  - 4.2.4 Ornidazole
  - 4.2.5 Macmiror
- 4.3 Recovery stage
5 Why is giardiasis dangerous if it is not treated?
6 How does giardiasis get infected?
7 Prevention

Giardiasis is a dangerous parasitic disease that most often affects children. It can be asymptomatic, while causing serious harm to the entire body, violating not only the integrity of the mucous membrane of the small intestine, but also adversely affecting the entire body as a whole. It is extremely important not only to timely identify the fact of the presence of the disease, but to start high-quality balanced treatment. In each case, the treatment regimen is individual. It depends on the patient's age, the state of his body, the degree of neglect of the disease. Treatment of giardiasis in children involves not only taking medication, but also the correct diet.

What is giardiasis

Giardiasis is a fairly common parasitic disease. Its causative agent is the protozoan lamblia, which live in the small intestine. Every year, millions of people around the world develop this disease.

Giardiasis in a child develops after several cysts of parasites enter the body. Cysts are an immobile form of existence of lamblia, a kind of capsule into which the parasite transforms, falling into an environment that is unfavorable for itself. Cysts have a strong shell that saves the parasite from death.

In this form, the parasite calmly resists acids, alkalis and even active chlorine, which is used to disinfect drinking water. For three months, giardia can survive as cysts in the hot sun and even in icy water.

Symptoms of giardiasis in children

With a sufficiently strong immune system, giardiasis in children can be asymptomatic. But most often in childhood, the disease passes in an acute form, very quickly passing the chronic stage. The following symptoms of giardiasis in children are characteristic:

Quite often, this parasitic disease is accompanied by a low-grade fever, which lasts for a long time (it does not rise above 37.5 and does not fall below 37.2);
Frequent nausea, especially after eating
Failure of the intestines, accompanied by frequent diarrhea, the stool in such cases is very liquid and frothy;
The disease is accompanied by pain in the lower abdomen; when probing, it is very difficult to determine exactly where the source of pain is;
Another common symptom with lamblia in children is gas formation;
With giardiasis in children, sometimes a symptom such as grinding teeth in a dream is noted;
Fatigue, with whims and frequent complaints of poor health;
Sleep disturbance occurs;
Swollen lymph nodes can be detected;

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Dry skin and peeling of the integument are often noted;
Bruises and puffiness appear under the eyes, while a "marble" pattern is observed on the whole body;
An allergic reaction often develops;
quite often with lamblia in children, a symptom such as loss of appetite is noted;
Due to dyskinesia of the biliary tract, a pulling pain appears in the right side;
A thick white coating pours out on the tongue, a smell appears from the mouth;
Increased sweating may appear;
Quite often, a child has a symptom such as a frequent change in mood.

It is not at all necessary that with giardiasis all these symptoms appear at the same time, they may well appear one at a time or in an amount of 2-3 pieces. In this case, it is quite difficult for a doctor to suspect a disease such as giardiasis in a child based on external signs.

It is especially difficult to do this at the initial stage of the disease. Only a month later, the clinical picture becomes clear enough. At this time, giardiasis is already passing into a chronic stage, so the symptoms of the disease become more pronounced.

After the doctor suspects the presence of parasites in the child's body by external signs, he prescribes a diagnosis.

Diagnosis of giardiasis

Despite the fact that giardiasis is a fairly well-studied disease, it is not so easy to diagnose. In children, a number of studies are carried out to make a diagnosis, which allow, with a fairly high degree of probability, to make the correct diagnosis. It is quite problematic to draw a conclusion about the presence of a disease based on one study.

Analysis of feces for the presence of cysts and lamblia. How to determine from this analysis whether a child has lamblia? For this diagnosis of giardiasis in children, you will need to donate feces. The laboratory assistant examines the patient's feces by multiple magnification.

It is very important to examine feces in the first hours after a bowel movement, since in the first 20 minutes you can find live lamblia in it in a child's feces. The rest of the time, only parasite cysts can be detected in the analyzes.

For analysis, a morning sample is taken and immediately delivered to the laboratory. It is best to take liquid feces, solid makes it difficult to study.

The percentage of reliability of this analysis is 50%. The human factor can be the cause of the error. Due to inexperience or other circumstances, the laboratory assistant may not recognize giardia and their cysts in the child's feces. Giardia is excreted from the body irregularly.

And even in the presence of a disease, tests may turn out to be false negative. Therefore, in order to find out for sure whether a child has lamblia, this test is taken at least three times with an interval of a week.

Analysis of feces for the presence of antigens. For this study, as in the previous case, a stool sample is required. Only this time it is better to take solid feces. By treating the sample with special reaction chemicals, a laboratory assistant can detect lamblia in a child.

As a result of this study, a laboratory assistant identifies the DNA of the parasites. This analysis is very effective and in 98% of cases allows you to identify giardia, if they really are.

A blood test for antibodies. This method of research is rarely performed in children, since it requires a blood sample from a vein. It is extremely difficult for a small child to explain how to behave at the time of this procedure. But older children still carry out this diagnosis.

When foreign bodies enter the body, it reacts with active production of antibodies to them. Serological research allows you to identify giardia in a child by determining the level of antibodies in the body, allowing you to determine not only the fact of infection, but to determine at what stage of development is giardiasis.

So, if the disease is at the initial stage of its development, the analysis will necessarily show an increase in group M immunoglobulin. This indicates that no more than two weeks have passed since the invasion. With an increased content of IgA antibodies, we can say that the disease is in active development.

If the analysis revealed an increase in class G immunoglobulins, then giardiasis has passed from the initial stage to the acute one. Too much increase in these antibodies indicates that the disease has been developing for more than a month and has managed to pass into a chronic stage.

This analysis also did not go without negative aspects, although its reliability is quite high - 95-98%. The analysis can turn out to be false negative even when the child is sick. This is possible if the infection occurred relatively recently.

The fact is that the body needs a certain time to start producing the necessary antibodies and in the first week of infection, the body still does not have time to react properly.

The analysis may turn out to be positive after the parasites have been completely removed from the child's body. Even after recovery, the waste products of lamblia still remain in the intestines - toxins, poisons. It takes time to completely flush them out and restore the small intestine.

This study refers to indirect methods, since it allows not to directly detect the lamblia or cysts themselves, but to identify indirect signs of the presence of parasites in the body.

Complete blood count. It does not allow the detection of the parasites themselves, but by the state of the blood it is possible to understand whether there is giardiasis in the child's body or the baby is completely healthy. Unlike the previous one, in this case, blood is taken not from a vein, but from a finger, so this study is much more often carried out for young children.

By the level of ROE, one can judge the presence of inflammatory processes in the child's body. Do not forget that ROE can also increase as a result of a cold.

Treatment of giardiasis in children

If, as a result of the diagnosis, lamblia cysts are found in a child, urgent treatment is required. And the success in the fight against the disease depends on the correctness of its appointment. Treatment of giardiasis in children consists of three stages.

Preparatory stage

The first step is the preparatory stage. Its purpose is to remove toxins from the child's body. How to treat giardiasis in children at this stage? You will need to take choleretic drugs, enterosorbents and enzyme preparations.

In combination, they will allow you to maximally cleanse the body of harmful elements, helping to restore the digestive tract. Thanks to this intervention, bile stagnation does not occur, and inflammatory processes are minimized.

In parallel with these drugs, the patient is prescribed drugs with antispasmodic properties. They help to strengthen the immune system.

An important part of the preparatory phase is a special diet. Its task is to help the child's body recover from damage caused by lamblia as much as possible, while delivering maximum discomfort to the parasites.

Its principle boils down to a strict rejection of some products that serve as food for lamblia, while actively using those dishes that negatively affect the parasite.

Giardia highly “respect” simple carbohydrates found in sweets, baked goods, and milk. Therefore, during treatment, these products are completely excluded from the diet. For the most part, the menu is based on cereals, lean meat and fish, and other protein-rich foods. In this case, the ingredients cannot be fried, but heat treatment with steam, stewing and boiling is allowed. Parasites do not feel well in an acidic environment, therefore, an anti-lambliosis diet involves a large intake of sour compotes, fruit drinks. They should be cooked on apples, citrus fruits, while practically no sugar is added.

The preparatory phase as a whole can take 1-4 weeks. It depends on the state of the child's immunity and how long the disease develops.

The main stage

The next step is the main stage. At this time, preparations for lamblia are prescribed for children, which should completely rid the baby's body of the harmful neighborhood. Which drug to prescribe is decided by the attending physician.

The scheme, dosage and duration of admission are also determined by the doctor based on the state of health of the child. So, how to treat giardiasis in children?

Metronidazole

The main component of this drug is metronidazole from the group of antibiotics, which is known for its antimicrobial properties and has high anaerobic properties. Giardia die as a result of the interaction of the 5-nitro group of the active component with the DNA of the parasite. As a result of this interaction, their synthesis is inhibited, reduced to zero.

Release forms. A wide variety of release forms allows you to easily build a convenient treatment regimen for giardiasis in children of any age, even infants. Solution for intravenous administration, tablets with a dosage of 250 and 500 mg, suspension, powder.

Contraindications. Metronidazole has a number of contraindications, first of all - intolerance to the components of this drug. If a child suffers from lesions of the central nervous system, this drug should also be abandoned. With a low content of leukocytes, it is also worth turning to analogues.

If a small patient has liver failure, this medicine for lamblia in children can be taken, but its dosage must be strictly measured.

Treatment regimen. The dosage and duration of treatment is determined by the attending physician, based on the general condition of the child and the stage of the disease. Babies are more often prescribed Metronidazole in the form of syrup and powder, they can take them without problems. The duration of admission is also determined by the attending physician.

Babies should be given no more than 0.125 g of the active ingredient per day. It can be any convenient form.

To get rid of lamblia in a child 2-5 years old, you need to take the drug twice a day. The daily rate should not exceed 250 mg of the active substance.

When removing lamblia in children aged 5-10 years, the daily dosage should not exceed 0.375 g of the active ingredient, this volume should be divided into two doses.

If the child is over 10 years old, he is prescribed 250 mg twice a day.

The duration of treatment is within 5-10 days. During therapy, the doctor can adjust both the dosage and the duration of the drug intake.

Furazolidone

The leading component of this drug is furazolidone. Antimicrobial agent with bactericidal and bacteriostatic action. Unlike other drugs of the same direction, it is able to activate the immune system. Once in the intestine, it blocks many enzyme systems of the microorganism.

Release form. The drug is produced both in suspension, which makes it easier for young children to take, and in tablets with a dosage of 50 mg. The tablets can be given to babies after three years, the suspension is allowed for use in children from 1 month.

Contraindications. It is strictly forbidden to take the drug if there is an allergic reaction to at least one component of the drug.

In severe hepatic failure and in the terminal stage of renal failure, Furazolidone is prohibited.

Reception scheme. The dosage is calculated individually in each case. The daily dose of this remedy for lamblia for children is calculated using the formula 0.0025 g per kg of weight. The resulting volume should be divided into 3-4 doses. The duration of treatment is 5-7 days. After a week, the course should be repeated.

Tinidazole

At the heart of this drug for children from lamblia and worms is the active substance tinidazole. Antiprotozoal medicine with antibacterial properties. Suppresses the reproduction of parasites by destroying their DNA.

Release form. Available only in tablets with a dosage of 500 mg.

Contraindications. With organic disorders of the nervous system, disorders of the hematopoietic system and in the presence of individual intolerance to the main component or any other that is part of the drug. Cannot be given to children under 12 years of age.

Reception scheme. With giardiasis, the dosage is calculated based on the weight of the child. The daily dose is 50-70 mg of the active ingredient per kilogram of body weight. It should be taken once a day for 1-10 days.

Ornidazole

At the heart of this drug from lamblia for children is the antiprotozoal and antimicrobial substance ornidazole. The drug at the intracellular level acts on parasites, interfering with the synthesis process, leading to the death of lamblia.

Release form. Ornidazole is available in tablets, capsules and as a solution for intravenous administration. Children are prescribed only pills, and only with a weight of 12 kg.

Contraindications. Individual intolerance to the components of the drug and organic disorders of the central nervous system may serve as grounds for refusing this drug.

Reception scheme. The daily rate of the drug is calculated in each case individually, based on the patient's weight. So, with a weight of 35 kg or more, 1.5 g of the active substance should fall on each kilogram. If the child weighs 12-35 kg, 40 mg should be obtained for each kilogram. It should be remembered that this is a daily rate and it is more expedient to take it at a time. The duration of the course is 1-2 days.

McMiror

The drug is based on nifuratel - an antimicrobial substance that has antiprotozoal, antifungal and antimicrobial properties. Has reduced toxicity.

Release form. Available in pill form.

Contraindications. This list includes the only contraindication - individual intolerance.

Reception scheme. The daily dose is calculated based on the patient's weight. So, for each kilogram of body weight, there should be 15 mg of the active substance. The resulting volume should be divided into 2 doses. A child should be treated for lamblia with McMiror for a week.

All medicines for Giardia in children must be taken in two stages. First, they spend on drink the first course, then they pause for a week and drink the course again.

It is worth knowing that by the end of the first week of treatment, the child's condition may worsen somewhat. This is due to the fact that parasites begin to actively die in the body and toxins enter the blood in large quantities.

To reduce their volume and speed up the process of removing parasites in a natural way, it makes sense for the baby to give anthelmintics and laxatives at this time. They will speed up the process of bowel movement, helping to remove the remains of the vital activity of parasites.

Recovery stage

The final stage of treatment is the recovery stage. At this time, all the forces of the body are aimed at eliminating the consequences of the infection. Pills from lamblia for children at this stage are no longer taken, all forces are aimed at restoring damage from the disease.

Since the small intestine has suffered most of all other organs, at this stage active work is underway to restore its mucous membrane and stabilize its function. At this time, nutrition is still of great importance, not the last role is given to adherence to the daily regimen, with mandatory hours of rest.

At this time, meals should be rich in lean meat, fish, cottage cheese, dairy products, cereals, vegetables.

Drinking plenty of fluids will speed up the elimination of toxins from the body, replenishing the loss of fluid. Berry fruit drinks, compotes, herbal decoctions are useful. Simple carbohydrates are still excluded from food.

Why is giardiasis dangerous if it is not treated?

Giardiasis affects not only children, but also adults. But in children, this disease is more severe. The child's body is still too weak to actively fight this intestinal infection. Children often have allergic reactions to parasites, dermatitis appears, and the disorder of the digestive system is more severe.

Why are giardia in children dangerous? As a result of giardiasis, the protective function of the body suffers greatly, after which frequent colds are likely, asthma and bronchitis may develop. In older children, this parasitic disease can provoke vegetative-vascular dystonia, frequent fatigue, and an irregular heart rhythm.

Once in the child's body, cysts are released from the membrane and begin to actively multiply in the small intestine. As a result of the disease, the baby does not receive the required amount of nutrients, vitamins and amino acids. Because the lamblia parasites begin to actively draw out these elements for their development and reproduction.

In the process of life of lamblia in children, vitamin deficiency very often occurs, which is unacceptable for this age. Development and growth can stop if you do not start timely treatment, these processes will go with serious disruptions.

How does giardiasis become infected?

There are several possible ways of contracting the disease. Contact-household way, thus most often the disease spreads in the children's team. Infection occurs through household items: towels, toys, dishes, pens, pencils and other common items.

To reduce the risk of infection in this way, it is necessary to instill in children hygiene standards. Wash hands with soap and water after using the toilet, before eating. Educators should do preventive cleaning more frequently in the group, with thorough washing of all toys.

Waterway of infection. The most common, 60% of infections are allocated to this method. If the water does not undergo proper purification, or there is an accident on the water pipelines with a breakthrough of the sewage system, cysts can get into the water.

To avoid infection in this way, you should boil the water for several minutes, at high temperatures the parasites die. Do not swallow water when swimming in the pool or open water. It may not be clean enough.

Food route. No less common. In this case, infection occurs through unwashed food, more often vegetables and fruits. You can also get infected through raw fish and meat.

To minimize the risk of infection in this way, you should thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables before eating. It is best to do this with special solutions or after washing, pour boiling water over the products. All food should be cooked thoroughly.

It has long been noted that if carbohydrates predominate in the diet, the risk of active development of giardiasis and severe consequences of the disease increases.

The active use of plant foods and proteins slows down the development of this disease.

Prevention

To reduce the risk of contracting giardiasis, you need to follow a number of rules.

If someone in the family is sick with giardiasis, all family members must be tested for this disease. Otherwise, after recovery, the child may again fall ill with giardiasis, "picking up" it again.
After recovery, for at least six months, a doctor's supervision and regular diagnostics are required to make sure that the child is completely healthy.
It is very important to follow the rules of personal hygiene:

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wash your hands thoroughly with soap after the street, using the toilet and before eating.
Avoid drinking unboiled water and unwashed fruits.
Do not pick up objects from the floor and put them in your mouth.
Protect the child from contact with animals as much as possible, since a pet can be a carrier of lamblia cysts, especially if he walks freely down the street.
Do not swim in dirty waters, where swimming is prohibited, the water in such places does not meet the standards and dangerous intestinal parasites, including giardia, can live in it.