| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) may occur following acute gastroenteritis. This long-term complication has previously not been described after infection with the non-invasive protozoan <it>Giardia lamblia</it>. This study aims to characterize persistent abdominal symptoms elicited by <it>Giardia </it>infection according to Rome II criteria and symptoms scores.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Structured interview and questionnaires 12–30 months after the onset of <it>Giardia </it>infection, and at least 6 months after <it>Giardia </it>eradication, among 82 patients with persisting abdominal symptoms elicited by the <it>Giardia </it>infection. All had been evaluated to exclude other causes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that 66 (80.5%) of the 82 patients had symptoms consistent with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and 17 (24.3%) patients had functional dyspepsia (FD) according to Rome II criteria. IBS was sub classified into D-IBS (47.0%), A-IBS (45.5%) and C-IBS (7.6%). Bloating, diarrhoea and abdominal pain were reported to be most severe. Symptoms exacerbation related to specific foods were reported by 45 (57.7%) patients and to physical or mental stress by 34 (44.7%) patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In the presence of an IBS-subtype pattern consistent with post-infectious IBS (PI-IBS), and in the absence of any other plausible causes, we conclude that acute <it>Giardia </it>infection may elicit functional gastrointestinal diseases with food and stress related symptoms similar to FGID patients in general.</p>
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