Swine Flu

May/June 2009 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 22 Number 3

By Frank Hubbell, DO

With the recent press and concerns over the “Swine Flu,” it seems appropriate to discuss influenza.

epidemiology

Influenza (flu) occurs in annual cycles infecting millions of people and causing hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. In the US, during a normal season, the flu infects hundreds of thousands of people, resulting in approximately 35,000 deaths. Click here for a Q&A information on the flu from the Centers for Disease Control.

Giardiasis and Diarrhea

September/October 2008  ISSN-1059-6518  Volume 21 Number 5

Giardia lamblia (Giardia lamblia) is a flagellated protozoan parasite that infects the small intestine causing diarrhea, bloating, and bad gas. People contract giardia when they consume contaminated food or water.

Giardia has a very simple life cycle. The dormant giardia cyst, ingested along with contaminated food or water, makes its home in the small intestine where the cyst hatches and changes into a trophozoite. (The trophozoites cause the illness—the un-hatched cysts do not.) The trophozoites then reproduce by binary fission (cell division) and the population grows.