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from WebMD: Giardiasis, Treatment OverviewGiardia
Sometimes, the symptoms of giardiasis go away without treatment. But many people who have symptoms will choose treatment to relieve their discomfort and avoid the spread of the illness. Doctors recommend that people infected with Giardia get treated even if they don’t have symptoms. This prevents spread of the disease and reduces your risk of developing a chronic infection with the parasite.
Giardiasis is treated with antiprotozoal medicines (such as metronidazole or tinidazole) that kill the parasite. The medicine you take will depend on your age, whether you have been treated for giardiasis before, and whether you are pregnant.
If you have giardiasis, you should be treated if:
You work in a nursing home or child care center.
Your job involves food preparation, handling, or serving.
You have health problems in addition to giardiasis. Even a short episode of diarrhea may cause dehydration or poor absorption of nutrients from the intestine, which may make other health problems worse.
You have bouts of diarrhea that occur off and on for several months or more (chronic giardiasis). Many cases do get better eventually, but treatment can relieve the discomfort of symptoms and may reduce the risk of spreading the infection to others.
What To Think About
If you do not have symptoms, the decision to get tested or treated depends on your risk of spreading the parasite. It is not necessary to treat an infection that is not causing symptoms, though most doctors do recommend treatment. The medicines may not be effective for everyone. You may want to consider the cost of treatment, as well as the potential negative side effects of a medicine, when deciding whether to treat a giardiasis infection.
If the risk of infecting others is high (such as for people who work in food services) or the likelihood of shared exposure is high (such as among family members who drink untreated water from the same source), testing and treatment should be done.
If the risk of infecting others is low, you may want to wait and see whether symptoms develop.
If you become reinfected with giardia after receiving treatment, you may be getting infected by others who are spreading the parasite or you may have a persistent infection. from WebMD: HIV & AIDS Health Center: You Can Prevent CryptosporidiosisWhat Is Cryptosporidiosis?
Cryptosporidiosis (krip-to-spo-rid-e-O-sis), often called "crypto," is a disease caused by a one-celled parasite, Cryptosporidium parvum, also known as "crypto." Crypto, which cannot be seen without a very powerful microscope, is so small that over 10,000 of them would fit on the period at the end of this sentence.
What Are the Symptoms of Crypto?
Although sometimes persons infected with crypto do not get sick, when they do get sick they can have watery diarrhea, stomach cramps, an upset stomach, or a slight fever. In some cases, persons infected with crypto can have severe diarrhea and lose weight. The first symptoms of crypto may appear 2 to 10 days after a person becomes infected.
How Does Crypto Affect You If Your Immune System Is Severely Weakened?
In people with AIDS and in others whose immune system is weakened, crypto can be serious, long-lasting, and sometimes fatal. If your CD4+ cell count is below 200, crypto is more likely to cause diarrhea and other symptoms for a long time. If your CD4+ count is above 200, your illness may not last more than 1 to 3 weeks or slightly longer. However, you could still carry the infection, which means that the crypto parasites are living in your intestines, but are not causing illness. If your CD4+ count later drops below 200, your symptoms may reappear.
How Is Crypto Spread?
You can get crypto by putting anything in your mouth that has touched the "stool" (bowel movement) of a person or animal with crypto. You can also get crypto by touching your mouth after touching the stool of infected persons or animals or touching soil or objects contaminated with stool. Drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated food can also give you crypto. Cryptosporidiosis is not spread by contact with blood.
Can Crypto Be Treated?
Yes, but no drug has been found yet to cure it. Some drugs, such as paromomycin, may reduce the symptoms of crypto, and new drugs are being tested. If you think you have crypto, or if you just have diarrhea, talk with your health care provider about testing and treatment. Diarrhea can cause dehydration. You should drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. Oral rehydration powders and sports-ade drinks can also help prevent dehydration.
How Can I Protect Myself from Crypto?
Yes, but no drug has been found yet to cure it. Some drugs, such as paromomycin, may reduce the symptoms of crypto, and new drugs are being tested. If you think you have crypto, or if you just have diarrhea, talk with your health care provider about testing and treatment. Diarrhea can cause dehydration. You should drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. Oral rehydration powders and sports-ade drinks can also help prevent dehydration.
WebMD Public Information from the CDC
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved. I have deleted my comments. Sorry for not documenting the source better.The crypto information was 5 pages so I cut and pasted and then posted the link. Sorry for the confusion.Are we complient now?
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In 2001 I had a bout of diarrhea serious enough to see my doctor. It was about four days after spending the weekend in the Sierra. He knew I climbed a lot, and asked "How do you treat your water up there?" I told him I never do, and he was absolutely aghast. He said "Well, you've got giardiasis. We can verify it with a lab test if you want, or just give you the medicine." I said let's go with the test.
The lab report came back positive for Campylobacter--the cause of which is often uncooked fowl. This is why you are not supposed to cut up chicken pieces, and then use the same cutting board for other food preparation without washing it. From the FDA's Bad Bug Book: "Surveys show that 20 to 100% of retail chickens are contaminated."
It took a day for the lab report, then another day until I could start the antibiotic he prescribed. By then the problem had pretty much resolved itself, but I took the medicine anyway.
Oh, I was negative for Giardia.
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If you do not have symptoms, the decision to get tested or treated depends on your risk of spreading the parasite. It is not necessary to treat an infection that is not causing symptoms, though most doctors do recommend treatment. I'm a little confused on this.... if you do not have symptoms, why or how would it enter one's mind to feel the need to be tested? This has been a great topic to follow - really interesting.
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." Albert Pike
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Giardia
Sometimes, the symptoms of giardiasis go...... While you have correctly cut-and-pasted from the webmd giardiasis page: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/giardiasis-treatment-overviewand I agree with the copied position on treating asymptomatic giardiasis, there is not yet consistent practice in the recommendation of treatment for asymptomatic giardiasis. For example: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/giardia-infection/DS00739/DSECTION=8Also, copying content from webmd without including the notice: "Copyright © 2005 - 2007, WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved" is a violation of the webmd terms of use as well as potentially misleading to readers of the message board. Dale B. Dalrymple http://dbdimages.com
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If you do not have symptoms, the decision to get tested or treated depends on your risk of spreading the parasite. It is not necessary to treat an infection that is not causing symptoms, though most doctors do recommend treatment. I'm a little confused on this.... if you do not have symptoms, why or how would it enter one's mind to feel the need to be tested? This has been a great topic to follow - really interesting. If your child or your child's playmate has giardiasis you might want to determine if the source was your inadequate cleanliness habits or your daycare center's or something else. Epidemical studies have also been performed in regions with outbreaks in effort to identify the source. Dale B. Dalrymple
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One of the subtle symptoms of long term Giardia or Crypto infection is that the little buggers try to take over people's minds. When they are successful, they make their hosts try to suppress any info that might be a threat to the little buggers or prevent them from finding more hosts.
Copyright © 2008, Bob K., Inc. All rights reserved
Last edited by Bob K.; 05/19/08 10:02 PM.
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If you do not have symptoms, the decision to get tested or treated depends on your risk of spreading the parasite. It is not necessary to treat an infection that is not causing symptoms, though most doctors do recommend treatment. I'm a little confused on this.... if you do not have symptoms, why or how would it enter one's mind to feel the need to be tested? This has been a great topic to follow - really interesting. If your child or your child's playmate has giardiasis you might want to determine if the source was your inadequate cleanliness habits or your daycare center's or something else. Epidemical studies have also been performed in regions with outbreaks in effort to identify the source. Dale B. Dalrymple Well, that's obvious... if people around you are being diagnosed with giardiasis, you would naturally start looking for the source. The article was confusing in that it listed the " if you have giardiasis, you should be treated if:_____", and then proceeded to list a number of concerns regarding the handing of food, working in nursing homes, etc. The very next sentence, continuing on the if you have giardiasis information, read "If you do not have sypmtoms, the decision to get tested or treated depends on your risk of spreading the parasite". It didn't say " if you do not have sypmtoms, BUT EVERYONE ARROUND YOU DOES... you might want to get tested". .... or maybe Bob K is right 
"What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." Albert Pike
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that is one of the great things about hiking Whitney - start up the trail with 1/2 quart of water(equate to negligable packing water weight); drink pure, clean unfiltered water all along the way. Tank up(below Iceberg or at Trail Camp depending on your route) - 2 to 3 liters should get the hardiestof drinkers to summit and back to the water. Then plenty of water sources all the way down - so again you carry minimal water - a plus on weight savings. Far cry from the hikes I have been doing the last few months. Rehabbing a case of plantar faciitis but hope to be doing bigger longer hikes soon - if not I am going to go insane. 
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... Rehabbing a case of plantar faciitis but hope to be doing bigger longer hikes soon - if not I am going to go insane. Sorry to hear you're ailing, Tom. Have never had plantar faciitis - what do you do to fix it?
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Also, copying content from webmd without including the notice: "Copyright © 2005 - 2007, WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved" is a violation of the webmd terms of use as well as potentially misleading to readers of the message board. Thanks for that, Dale. DocRd: I would appreciate it if you would edit your message, and add the appropriate words, AND somehow separate the quoted part from your own words. Actually, you guys are missing the boat on the copyright thing. You do not need to paste a copyright symbol on something for it to be copyrighted. All works are automatically copyrighted at the moment of creation under US laws. However, there is also the exemption called the "Fair Use Doctrine", which allows works to be copied rather freely. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the copying of the WebMD text. reference to the copyright Fair Use Doctrine at the US copyright office
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Actually, you guys are missing the boat on the copyright thing. You do not need to paste a copyright symbol on something for it to be copyrighted. All works are automatically copyrighted at the moment of creation under US laws. However, there is also the exemption called the "Fair Use Doctrine", which allows works to be copied rather freely. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the copying of the WebMD text. reference to the copyright Fair Use Doctrine at the US copyright office There is no problem with quoting the material. As long as you follow the copyright holders rules. They are given on the website as 1) indicating the material is quoted 2) including the notice I referred too. In this case, credit was not given. If and when the Fair Use Doctrine applies, (even when everyone's lawyers agree to it) fair use still requires that the citation be attributed. That's how we tell legitimate use from plagiarism. Dale B. Dalrymple
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I have modified the post with information quoted from WebMD. Hope all is good now.
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Thanks for the list. I haven't been on the hike before, and I do not recognize the name of all the the places you list, such as South Side Bighorn Park. All of these sites on the main trail? Secondly, there is nothing past switchback #23, yet there is still a long way to the summit. How much water do you recommend I carry from that point?
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All of these sites on the main trail? Yes.
Secondly, there is nothing past switchback #23, yet there is still a long way to the summit. How much water do you recommend I carry from that point?
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