ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of a luxury around-the-world cruise ship that is full to capacity, carrying 1200 passengers (average age 66) and 500 crew. It provides a discussion on clinical management, prevention, epidemiology, biology, and pathology of this case. Giardia infections are treated with supportive therapy to prevent dehydration and with antiprotozoal treatment. This infection is common and widespread throughout the developing world, especially in children. Giardia was detected in two of the systems on board, one of which supplied the spa pool and a swimming pool. Giardia lamblia is a flagellate protozoan that occurs worldwide, but is more prevalent in resource-poor settings and areas of poor sanitation where waterborne outbreaks cause endemic and epidemic diarrhoea. Giardia is a flagellate protozoon initially described in 1681 by Van Leeuwenhoek, who observed them while examining his own stools under the microscope. The two lifecycle stages for Giardia are vegetative trophozoites and environmentally resistant cysts.
