Symptomatic giardiasis and intestinal bacterial overgrowth

ABSTRACT

The clinical spectrum of giardiasis varies from symptomatic cases to patients with malabsorption. Whether or not bacterial colonization of the duodenum affects the outcome of giardial infection was investigated in this work. Duodenal aspirates, obtained from fifty Egyptian males suffering from giardiasis, were studied microscopically and bacteriologically. The results revealed the occurrence of bacterial overgrowth [mostly aerobic] in 62% of cases. A directly proportional relation could be detected between the presence and number of bacteria on one hand and the severity and duration of the disease on the other hand. It could be postulated that intestinal microbial overgrowth favours mucosal invasion by the parasite and aggravates its pathogenicity