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Pathophysiology and immunology of giardiasis.

Giardia lamblia, the protozoan parasite first described by yon Leewenhoek in 1681 (cited in 1), has been appreciated only recently as a pathogenic organism. Now recognized as the cause of gastrointestinal disease ranging from asymptomatic cyst passage (2) to chronic malabsorption (3), G. lamblia has become the most frequently identified intestinal parasite in the US (4) and many other regions of the world (5, 6). Two intriguing, yet inadequately understood, aspects of giardiasis are its pathophysiology and immunology. Therefore, this chapter reviews the pathology, the patho­ genesis, and the immunology of the infection caused by this increasingly important organism.