What are the signs and symptoms of Balantidiasis?
Common symptoms of Balantidiasis include chronic diarrhea, occasional dysentery (diarrhea with passage of blood or mucus), nausea, foul breath, colitis (inflammation of the colon), abdominal pain, weight loss, deep intestinal ulcerations, and possibly perforation of the intestine.
How do you treat Balantidiasis?
Three medications are used most often to treat Balantidium coli: tetracycline, metronidazole, and iodoquinol. Tetracycline*: adults, 500 mg orally four times daily for 10 days; children ≥ 8 years old, 40 mg/kg/day (max. 2 grams) orally in four doses for 10 days.
What does Balantidiasis mean?
Balantidiasis (also known as balantidiosis) is defined as large-intestinal infection with Balantidium coli, which is a ciliated protozoan (and the largest protozoan that infects humans). B coli is known to parasitize the colon, and pigs may be its primary reservoir.
What are the causes of Balantidiasis?
Balantidium coli is an intestinal protozoan parasite that causes the infection called balantidiasis. While this type of infection is uncommon in the United States, humans and other mammals can become infected with Balantidium coli by ingesting infective cysts from food and water that is contaminated by feces.
What is the cause of balantidiasis in humans?
Balantidiasis also known as Balantidium coli infection or balantidiosis, is a rare infectious disease in the US that is caused by single celled intestinal protozoan parasite called Balantidium coli, a ciliated protozoan that is usually associated with intestinal infection in areas associated with pig rearing.
Who are the primary hosts of balantidiasis?
Balantidiasis is a rare intestinal infection caused by the single-celled parasite known as Balantidium coli. Pigs are the primary hosts of the parasite but on occasion, although rare, infects humans. However, pigs are not the only hosts of the parasite; rats have also been shown to be reservoirs of Balantidium coli.
How is balantidiasis transmitted from pig to human?
Balantidiasis is a rare infectious disease caused by the single celled (protozoan) parasite Balantidium coli. This parasite may be passed directly to humans by contact with pig feces or indirectly by drinking contaminated water.
What kind of disease is Balantidium coli responsible for?
1. Balantidium coli is a parasitic species of ciliate protozoan responsible for the disease Balantidiasis. Balantidium coli is the largest protozoan and the only ciliate known to parasitize humans. 2. Balantidiosis is a zoonotic disease.