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Some Perspectives on the Transmission of Giardiasis

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Giardia and Giardiasis

Abstract

A number of aspects of the genus Giardia have been a source of great controversy among parasitologists for decades. Much of the difficulty centers around the taxonomy of this flagellate. This has never been completely resolved; it will be discussed further later in this chapter. Giardia spp. investigations proceeded, at a fairly constant level, until the mid-1960s, when research publications pertaining to this parasite diminished considerably. The work with Giardia was continued, over a period of about a decade, by a small group of dedicated workers, without the benefit of much financial support for their research. One reason for this lack of support has been the belief that this organism is of no public health significance in our society. It was considered, and with considerable justification, to be a rather unusual flagellate of doubtful pathologic significance. Many considered it to be more of an exotic parasite, which on occasion produced a diarrheic syndrome in travelers. The research, of course, did progress, and a considerable amount of significant information was developed in such areas as in vitro cultivation (Meyer, 1976; Fortess and Meyer, 1976) and cellular morphology, using both transmission and scanning electron microscopy (Friend, 1966; Erlandsen, 1974; Erlandsen and Chase, 1974; Sheffield and Bjorvatn, 1977) and immunology, by Roberts-Thomson and his co-workers (1976, 1981), Stevens et al. (1978), Visvesvara and Healy (1980), Visvesvara et al. (1980), and many others.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55108, USA

    William J. Bemrick

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  1. William J. Bemrick
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, USA

    Stanley L. Erlandsen

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon, 97201, USA

    Ernest A. Meyer

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Bemrick, W.J. (1984). Some Perspectives on the Transmission of Giardiasis. In: Erlandsen, S.L., Meyer, E.A. (eds) Giardia and Giardiasis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0594-9_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0594-9_22

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