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Giardiasis, part 1
Before I came to Kazan, I did some web-searches on the city water system. All the travel sites suggested avoiding drinking the tap water, but none of them referenced any particular reason or cited any particular data sources. I eventually found one that said that giardia had been detected in the city water in 1996, but of course that was some time ago. My advice to students was the same here as you would give for any other place you travelled: drink boiled water only, and use only boiled water to brush your teeth.
Two of our guys came down with giardia anyway. The father of one is a physician and gave a distance-diagnosis and directed them to use the standard metronidazole, which had a very prompt effect at fixing them up.
About two weeks ago I got lazy and started brushing my teeth with tapwater. And now... you guessed it... it looks like I have giardia. The pain feels like it's in a different place than my previous experience of gas pain, so much so that I wondered if something wasn't wrong with a kidney or appendix or liver. So I'm self-diagnosing. Bought the drug. Started it today.
This entry was posted on July 27th, 2010 at 04:00:00 pm by Don and is filed under Travel notes and advice.
2 comments
Yikes Don, I guess you better follow the customary admonishments and keep away from the local water unless it’s boiled. Hope you are feeling better.
So you just buy it over the counter it’s so common?
Don responds: Almost all medicines are available here without a prescription. Very convenient.
