TY - JOUR T1 - Giardiasis in a paediatric population of the province of Castellon. Clinical details and impact JO - Anales de Pediatría (English Edition) T2 - AU - Saura-Carretero,Zoser AU - Villanueva-Alarcón,Miriam AU - Pérez-Olaso,Oscar AU - Aleixandre-Górriz,Isabel AU - Real-Fernández,Antonio AU - Sánchez-Thevenet,Paula AU - Gregori-Roig,Pasqual SN - 23412879 M3 - 10.1016/j.anpede.2020.06.010 DO - 10.1016/j.anpede.2020.06.010 UR - https://analesdepediatria.org/en-giardiasis-in-paediatric-population-province-articulo-S2341287921000430 AB - IntroductionGiardiasis is a gastrointestinal parasitosis that has a great public health impact. Patients and methodsObservational case study — in children under 15 years old in the Health Department 3 of the Province of Castellon (Spain), during the period 2012–2019. ResultsA total of 190 cases of giardiasis were recorded in children under 15 years old. The number of cases varied significantly according to age group and month of the year. There were 115 males. The most frequent symptoms were diarrhoea and abdominal pain. The most commonly used treatment was standard metronidazole (80% of patients). Co-infection occurred in 13% of cases, and comorbidities in 36%, especially atopic dermatitis and lactose/fructose intolerance. Relapses and/or re-infections were recorded in 8%. All cases were diagnosed by conventional parasitological stool tests and complementary immunochromatography (63 cases). Thirty-five samples were positive for Giardia duodenalis by qPCR. The direct health cost per patient was 117€. A disease notification bias was detected between 2012–2016 at a national scale. ConclusionsGiardiasis is a current disease in Castellon, and should be considered as a probable diagnosis of gastrointestinal disease in a child under 4 years-old with diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Its correct clinical and therapeutic management could reduce the possibility of worsening of the patient's condition and, additionally, would reduce the economic impact of the disease in terms of direct health costs. ER -