Dr. Kassai Tibor szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 2. (Budapest, 1969)
Only a few facts about the importance of Glardia lamblia ( Lamb lia intestinalis ) are summarized here. Clinical symptoms of the disease in Hungary were adequately described as early as 1937 (30), when malabsorption and anorexia were emphasized. Clinical observations suggest that the average duration of the infection is from 2 to 3 years (12). KATSAMPES et al. (8) observed a defective absorption of vitamin A in children infected with G . lamblia ; X-ray examinations (19)» electronmicroscopic and biopsy studies (29, 33), carried out in various clinico-pathological states.of giardiasis, consistently prove that this protozoon adhering to the small intestine causes malabsorption, with a resultant decrease in the levels of vitamins A and D and subsequent retardation of growth. According to MAXARA (12) the incidence of giardiasis in childhood is 5 to 20 per cent;however , he stresses that this level can be as high as 50 to 80 per cent in children living in communities, and infection occurs mostly at that age when the vitamin storage is at its lowest and requirement is highest.According to MOORE (15) there is little information on how much vitamin A a child can store. If the pathogenicity of G. lamblia is considered a possible cause of vitamin A malabsorption, earlier results (4, 5) are not surprising, namely that a significant difference could be observed in the vitamin A status of infected and uninfected children who had been living in state homes for many years an-d who had been fed on the same diet. The authors gave evidence that this difference was due to G. lamblia infestation. With the present investigation the authors wished to establish whether vitamin A deficiency occurs in „healthy cyst carriers" and whether it is a secondary result of giardiasis. Materials and Methods The existence of giardiasis in two state homes - one in Szeged and one in Szegvár (Southern Hungary) - was determined by the direct smear technique, using iodine stain; at the same time
