in vitro culture and isoenzyme analysis of giardia lamblia

Evidently Giardia differentially infects populations of differing socio-economic
backgrounds. It would not be unreasonable to expect rural communities with
sparse facilities to have a higher prevalence of giardiasis than the urban
population who have proper sanitation, piped and treated water and a relatively
higher level of personal hygiene. Contrary to expectations, two independent
studies in Bangladesh (Hossain et al., 1983) and Zimbabwe (Mason et al., 1986)
found that the prevalence of giardiasis was higher in urban children than in the
children in rural areas. It was speculated that this could be related to factors such
as high population density in urban areas complicated by overcrowding and poor
sanitation of urban slums in developing countries (Rabbani and Islam, 1994).
In rural areas in South Africa, there is often poor sanitation, restricted water
supplies and malnutrition, all of which promote Giardia infection and transmission.
Furthermore, urban areas are overcrowded and have slums with minimal sanitary
facilities. Therefore there is a need for diagnostic surveillance of this growthretarding
parasite in this country. Several local studies reflect significant infection
levels. For example, Millar and colleagues (1989) performed a survey of parasitic
infestation in Cape Town and found that of the 101 children screened, 8 had
Giardia cysts, and about 46% had multi-parasitosis. More recently, Evans et al.,
(1998) determined the prevalence of Giardia among five communities in the
Western Cape by multiple stool assessments. They reported a mean prevalence
of 18,1 % (with a range of 6-36%) after screening 3976 stools using the formol
ether methods.
In Kwa-Zulu Natal, a survey of intestinal parasitic infections in Black school
15