Treatment

=Treatment and Prevention=

Prevention
According to the Mayo Clinic there is no known drug that can prevent giardia infection; however, several precautions can significantly reduce the chances of a human becoming infected and or passing the infection to others. (2010)


 * **Proper hand washing.** The easiest and simplest way to prevent infection and cross contamination.
 * **Boil wilderness / surface water.** Avoid drinking water from any surface source (lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, etc). One should also boil water taken from a shallow well. Several commercial portable water filters exist on the market, or you can boil the water for at least 10 minutes at 158 F (70 C) before consumption. For homes that have a shallow well an inexpensive Pur triple stage faucet water filter can remove up to 99% of microbial cysts ("Microbial cysts", 2010).
 * **Keep your mouth shut and plug your nose.** Don't drink or swallow water from swimming pools, hot tubs or any surface water source.
 * **Use commercial bottled water.** Especially true when traveling in areas where the water supply may be questionable, brush your teeth and drink from bottles that __you open yourself__. Also avoid ice and raw fruits as the ice may be contaminated or the fruit may have been washed in contaminated water.
 * **Safe sex.** Use a condom every time you engage in sex (especially anal sex) and avoid oral-anal sex unless you are protected.

Treatment
Their are several drug treatments available for children and adults who have giardia infection. If a patient has a infection but shows no symptoms, they usually don't need treatment unless they are likely to spread the parasites. For most people who exhibit mild symptoms, the infection will clear itself up in a few weeks ("Giardia infection", 2010).

If the symptoms are severe or persist, the Mayo Clinic (2010) recommends that a heath care professional prescribe one of the following:


 * **Metronidazole (Flagyl).** The most commonly used antibiotic for giardia infection, metronidazole can cause nausea and a metallic taste in the patients mouth. Care must be given so that the infected individual abstain from alcohol while under treatment.
 * **Tinidazole (Tindamax).** This drug works as well as metronidazole and has the same side effects but may be given in a single dose.
 * **Nitazoxanide (Alinia).** This drug comes in a liquid form and is generally used to treat children for it's ease of administering.
 * **Paromomycin.** This drug is primary used in females who are pregnant as it less likely to cause birth defects. Paromomycin however is not as effective as other drugs.

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