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Children's health

Giardia?

5 replies

forgottoremember · 13/05/2013 21:34

Has anyone had experience of this in an infant? Ds, 1, has had super stinky and squishy poo for a couple of weeks, and I'm starting to think it cd maybe be giardia. Dd has similar symptoms, and my stomach also not right.

Anyone had this in their kids?

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toomuch2young · 13/05/2013 23:10

Hi, get a 3 day pooled faecal sample and march to the doctors receptionist waving it around, demand it is sent to the lab for a faecal analysis and culture.
This will tell the doctor whether it is indeed giardia (parasite treated with metronidazole) or an infection such as camplylobacter etc.
My background knowledge is animal, but after watching the utter difficulties my friend had trying to convince her GP to do a faecal sample for her DD who had persistent diarrhoea, I swear now I'd just do the above!!
Good luck.

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ripsishere · 14/05/2013 04:57

My DD had it. As too much said, it's pretty treatable as long as it is identified. DD was treated for a different parasite which made her recovery from Giardia much longer.
Where would she have picked it up? I know my girls came from the country we were living in at the time.
I wasn't aware it was common in the UK.
Good luck. The receptionist at your GP should be able to give you some stool sample pots.

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forgottoremember · 14/05/2013 15:26

saw the dr this morn - before seeing these replies, thank you - who totally poo pooed (sorry for the pun) the idea of giardia, and said was much more likely just to be a bug (hmm) and then subsequent lactose intolerance, and that both he and I (still BF) should give up milk for the next while.

She did unwillingly agree to do a stool test - what is a 3 day pooled sample???

was mightily annoyed, as I took him in because he clearly had a temp this morn and was v miserable. I hadn't taken his temp cos with 3 to get off to school etc. and an ancient mercury thermometer, it's a bit of a performance, but her blasted in-ear thing didn't register he had one, and she was happy to accept a reading of 36 from a baby she herself admitted was hot, and denied that it was possible he had any kind of fever.
(then took him home and did subdue him into taking his temp - which is 38.5)

Don't know where it would have come from and could perfectly well be something else, but I think it IS something, and it isn't clearing...

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toomuch2young · 14/05/2013 23:19

3 day pooled sample - collect a small sample each day for 3 days and add to the sample collection pot. Or if you have 3 pots just do a sample from each day in seperate pots. The labs like 3 day samples. Maybe it's to make sure large enough sample or because it may not be excreted each day not entirely sure.
Good luck not a pleasant task and hope dd feeling better soon.