Prevalence and Incidence of Giardia
Giardia: Rare Disease
Giardia is listed as a "rare disease" by the Office of
Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). This means that Giardia, or a subtype of Giardia,
affects less than 200,000 people in the US population.
Giardia Prevalence: Book Excerpts
Incidence (annual) of Giardia:
16.29 per 100,000 in Canada 20001 ... see also overview of Giardia.
Incidence Rate:
approx 1 in 6,138 or 0.02% or 44,308 people in USA [Source statistic for calcuation: "16.29 per 100,000 in Canada 20001" -- see also general information about data sources]
Incidence extrapolations for USA for Giardia:
44,308 per year,
3,692 per month,
852 per week,
121 per day,
5 per hour,
0 per minute,
0 per second.
[Source statistic for calculation: "16.29 per 100,000 in Canada 20001" -- see also general information about data sources]
Prevalance of Giardia:
The overall incidence of infection in the United States is estimated at 2% of the population.
Giardiasis is the most frequent cause of non-bacterial diarrhea in North America.
(Source: FDA Bad Bug Book)
...
Giardiasis is more prevalent in children than in adults, possibly because many individuals seem to have a lasting immunity after infection. This organism is implicated in 25% of the cases of gastrointestinal disease and may be present asymptomatically. The overall incidence of infection in the United States is estimated at 2% of the population.
(Source: FDA Bad Bug Book)
Outbreaks of Giardia:
Major outbreaks are associated with contaminated water systems that do not use sand filtration or have a defect in the filtration system.
MMWR 38(23):1989: In April 1988, the Albuquerque Environmental Health Department and the New Mexico Health and Environment Department investigated reports of giardiasis among members of a church youth group in Albuquerque. The first two members to be affected had onset of diarrhea on March 3 and 4, respectively; stool specimens from both were positive for Giardia lamblia cysts. These two persons had only church youth group activities in common.
MMWR 32(50):1983: On August 8, 1983, the Utah Department of Health was notified by the Tooele County Health Department (TCHD) of an outbreak of diarrheal illness in Tooele, Utah, possibly associated with a contaminated public water supply that resulted from flooding during Utah's spring thaw. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports For more information on recent outbreaks see the CDC.
(Source: FDA Bad Bug Book)
Prevalence/Incidence of Giardia: Online Medical Books
16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE!
Review excerpts from medical books online, free, without registration,
for more information about the prevalence and/or incidence of Giardia.
Giardiasis:
Causes and incidence
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
G. lamblia has two stages: the cystic stage and the trophozoite stage. Ingestion of G. lamblia cysts in fecally contaminated water or the fecal-oral transfer of cysts by an infected person results in giardiasis. Giardiasis may be transmitted through sexual contact (direct or indirect fecal-oral contact). When cysts enter the small bowel, they become trophozoites and attach themselves with their sucking disks to the bowel's epithelial surface. After this, the trophozoites encyst again, travel down the colon, and are excreted. Unformed feces that pass quickly through the intestine may contain trophozoites as well as cysts.
Giardiasis occurs worldwide but is most common in developing countries and other areas where sanitation and hygiene are poor. In the United States, giardiasis is most common in travelers who have recently returned from endemic areas, and in campers who drink unpurified water from contaminated streams. Probably because of frequent hand-to-mouth activity, children are more likely to become infected with G. lamblia than adults. Hypogammaglobulinemia also appears to predispose people to this disorder. Giardiasis doesn't confer immunity, so reinfections may occur.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Colorado tick fever:
Causes and incidence
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
Colorado tick fever is transmitted to humans by a hard-shelled wood tick called Dermacentor andersoni. The adult tick acquires the virus when it bites infected rodents and remains permanently infective.
Incidence is high in Colorado, where up to 15% of people who regularly camp show past exposure. It's much less common in the rest of the United States.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Lassa fever:
Causes and incidence
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
A chronic infection in rodents, Lassa virus is transmitted to humans by contact with infected rodent urine, feces, and saliva. The virus enters the bloodstream, lymph vessels, and respiratory and digestive tracts. It then multiplies in the cells of the reticuloendothelial system. In the early stages of this illness, when the virus is in the throat, human transmission may occur through inhalation of infected droplets.
As many as 100 cases of Lassa fever occur annually in western Africa; the disease is rare in the United States.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Relapsing fever:
Causes and incidence
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
The body louse (Pediculus humanus corporis) carries louse-borne relapsing fever (B. recurrentis), which typically occurs in epidemics during wars, famines, and mass migrations. Cold weather and crowded living conditions also favor the spread of body lice.
Inoculation takes place when the victim crushes the louse, causing its infected blood or body fluid to soak into the victim's bitten or abraded skin or mucous membranes.
Louse-borne relapsing fever is most common in North and Central Africa, Europe, Asia, and South America. No cases of louse-borne relapsing fever have been reported in the United States since 1900.
Tick-borne relapsing fever, however, is found in the United States and is caused by at least 15 Borrelia species; the three species most commonly identified with tick carriers are B. hermsii (associated with Ornithodoros hermsi), B. turicatae (associated with O. turicata), and B. parkeri (associated with O. parkeri). This form of the disease is most prevalent in Texas and other western states, usually during the summer when ticks and their hosts (chipmunks, goats, squirrels, rabbits, mice, rats, owls, lizards, and prairie dogs) are most active. In the colder weather, outbreaks sometimes afflict people such as campers who sleep in tick-infested cabins.
Because tick bites are virtually painless and most Ornithodoros ticks feed at night but don’t imbed themselves in the victim’s skin, many people are bitten unknowingly.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease:
Causes and incidence
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
Rheumatic fever appears to be a hypersensitivity reaction to a group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection, in which antibodies manufactured to combat streptococci react and produce characteristic lesions at specific tissue sites, especially in the heart and joints. Because very few persons (3%) with streptococcal infections ever contract rheumatic fever, altered host resistance must be involved in its development or recurrence. Although rheumatic fever tends to be familial, this may merely reflect contributing environmental factors. For example, in lower socioeconomic groups, incidence is highest in children between ages 5 and 15, probably as a result of malnutrition and crowded living conditions. This disease strikes generally during cool, damp weather in the winter and early spring. In the United States, it’s most common in the northern states.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Rocky Mountain spotted fever:
Causes and incidence
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
R. rickettsii is transmitted to a human or small animal by the prolonged bite (4 to 6 hours) of an adult tick — the wood tick (Dermacentor andersoni) in the west and by the dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis) in the east. Occasionally, it's acquired through inhalation (it can occur in laboratory settings where aerosolization of blood and specimens may occur) or through the contact of abraded skin with tick excreta or tissue juices. (This explains why people should'nt crush ticks between their fingers when removing them from other people and animals.) In most tick-infested areas, 1% to 5% of the ticks harbor R. rickettsii.
Endemic throughout the continental United States, RMSF is particularly prevalent in the southeast and southwest. Because RMSF is associated with outdoor activities, such as camping and backpacking, the incidence of this illness is usually higher in the spring and summer. Epidemiologic surveillance reports for RMSF indicate that the incidence is also higher in children ages 5 to 9, men and boys, and whites.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Giardiasis:
Giardiasis - epidemiology
(The 5-Minute Pediatric Consult)
- ~2.5 million cases of infection annually in the US
- Peaks at ages 0–5 years; 2nd peak at ages 31–40 years
- More common in spring and summer
- Water-dwelling mammals and household pets can become infected and may serve as reservoir of infection.
Giardiasis - incidence
Average in US 9.5 cases per 100,000
Giardiasis - prevalence
- Direct person-to-person transmission accounts for the very high prevalence rates in institutions, daycare centers, and family contacts.
- High prevalence rates have been reported in patients with cystic fibrosis as well as Crohn disease.
- Waterborne transmission is an important source of endemic or epidemic spread, especially when water is supplied by surface source such as streams and reservoirs (outdoor recreation and international travel).
- Foodborne infection is uncommon and generally from uncooked or undercooked food or food contaminated after cooking by water source.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: The 5-Minute Pediatric Consult, 2008
About prevalence and incidence statistics:
The term 'prevalence' of Giardia usually refers to the estimated population
of people who are managing Giardia at any given time.
The term 'incidence' of Giardia refers to the annual diagnosis rate,
or the number of new cases of Giardia diagnosed each year.
Hence, these two statistics types can differ:
a short-lived disease like flu can have high annual incidence but low prevalence,
but a life-long disease like diabetes has a low annual incidence but high prevalence.
For more information see about prevalence and incidence statistics.
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