What Is Giardiasis?
5. Diagnosis
If you have symptoms of nausea, abdominal cramping, and loose stools that last more than a week, you should see your doctor. At your physical examination, your doctor will probably ask you questions about your recent activities and symptoms to try to narrow down what is causing them. To confirm a giardiasis diagnosis, you may need to submit one or more stool samples for testing.
The doctor will send your sample to a lab where technicians will perform microscopic analysis of the excrement to check for the presence of trophozoites and/or cysts. Not every bowel movement will contain evidence of giardiasis, however, so your doctor may request up to three samples. Rarely, more invasive testing methods, such as an intestinal biopsy, may be necessary to confirm a diagnosis of giardiasis.
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