View Full Version : Inexpensive Drug May Treat Giardiasis
This could be great news for future hikers. The FDA has approve accelerated testing.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-arthritis-dysentery-20120521,0,6117893.story
Cherokee Bill
05-21-2012, 19:11
Great, BUT, ......................... we'll all die of old-age, before the FDA finally approved it! Then some drug company will claim a patient on it, and each tablet will cost $100/ea.
Hmmm, it's better than buying Fish Zole 250mg......
rocketsocks
05-22-2012, 00:24
Wow that's great news Spokes.My uncle use to take gold injections for arthritis,my how things have changed.Thanks for posting,cause I don't want no ameba's in me,No sir,any fish I catch needs to be on the end of my line.;)
Snowleopard
05-22-2012, 12:19
Thanks for the link, spokes. I didn't catch that it treats giardia in the other article I read.
Great, BUT, ......................... we'll all die of old-age, before the FDA finally approved it! Then some drug company will claim a patient on it, and each tablet will cost $100/ea.
According to the other article I saw, the drug is out of patent and already approved as safe for treating arthritis. If it is actually effective against giardia in humans, you could have your doctor prescribe it now and it is cheap ($2.50/dose).
The difficulty with using this on your own would be distinguishing giardia from diarrhea from bacteria. I think once giardia develops a bit it's distinctive.
Distinctive? It stinks bad! I don't know how it could be a mistaken diagnosis.
I had to have metronidazole because the approved treatment, in Canada, is not approved here. Fortunately, I got the right doseage and I didn't need to use it twice, or even more.
The warnings on metronidazole are frightening. I hope this new treatment is effective and cheap, and approved.
I got giardia at City College, in San Francisco, CA, not in the wilderness. Someone doing food preparation had it.
Wise Old Owl
05-22-2012, 19:57
Well I am going out on a huge limb here....
Can I Develop a Giardia Immunity?
Q.} Regarding Giardia and crypto: Can one develop a tolerance or immunity to them? I remember drinking from streams as a child while fishing and hiking in the backcountry. Surely I couldn't have been lucky than many times.
Submitted by: -Lonnie J., Donkin, NS
A.} The short answer is yes. Many people, as many as one out of every 10, can carry Giardia without ever knowing they are a carrier. Everyone seems to develop at least some immunity after a case of giardiasis.
With cryptosporidium the answer is less clear. Immunity does seem to develop in some people after exposure, but if those same people swallow enough of the pathogen later, they will probably get cryptosporidiosis again. You have to down more than a few to get sick, so, in fact, no matter your tolerance for both germs, if you drink enough of them, you may get the disease. You could have indeed been lucky.—Buck