Re: Filter your water or not?
Posted: Wed Nov 25, 2009 4:52 pm
I am no expert on this but I and a number of my friends have had some experience. I remember when it first appeared in the Southern Sierra one of our wilderness rangers had to be flown out due to severe dehydration. A number of my friends have had acute cases. What they describe isn't pleasant. I have been careful and have avoided it, to my knowledge. My dog was tested for it and found to be infected. He had to be treated. Apparently dogs only get it once though.
Other people I know never treat their water and don't appear to get it. But - you can have it without knowing it. I forget the term, but it is the opposite of acute. It lives in you in a relatively mild form. A friend of mine tells a story about his time in Ecuador as a Peace Corps volunteer. He was tested for it by the local doctor who was amazed to find that my friend wasn't carrying it. It seems that pretty much everyone living in the Ecuadoran countryside carries Giardia.
Other people I know never treat their water and don't appear to get it. But - you can have it without knowing it. I forget the term, but it is the opposite of acute. It lives in you in a relatively mild form. A friend of mine tells a story about his time in Ecuador as a Peace Corps volunteer. He was tested for it by the local doctor who was amazed to find that my friend wasn't carrying it. It seems that pretty much everyone living in the Ecuadoran countryside carries Giardia.