Show your support of CIRI with the 'CIRI Supporter' logo, available for display on your Web site upon joining CIRI.
Join today and help CIRI advance the cause of cleaner, more productive, and healthier indoor environments through scientific research!
HIV / AIDS
At the end of 2003, an estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV/AIDS. In 2005, 37,331 cases of HIV/AIDS in adults, adolescents, and children were diagnosed in the 33 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting. CDC has estimated that approximately 40,000 persons in the United States become infected with HIV each year.
CDC
8698.jpg (659 KB)
This scanning electron micrograph (SEM) revealed some of the external ultrastructural details displayed by a flagellated Giardia lamblia protozoan parasite. G. lamblia is the organism responsible for causing the diarrheal disease "giardiasis". Once an animal or person has been infected with this protozoan, the parasite lives in the intestine, and is passed in the stool. Because the parasite is protected by an outer shell, it can survive outside the body, and in the environment for long periods of time.
Cysts are resistant forms and are responsible for transmission of giardiasis. Both cysts and trophozoites can be found in the feces (diagnostic stages). The cysts are hardy and can survive several months in cold water. Infection occurs by the ingestion of cysts in contaminated water, food, or by the fecal-oral route (hands or fomites). In the small intestine, excystation releases trophozoites (each cyst produces two trophozoites). Trophozoites multiply by longitudinal binary fission, remaining in the lumen of the proximal small bowel where they can be free or attached to the mucosa by a ventral sucking disk. Encystation occurs as the parasites transit toward the colon. The cyst is the stage found most commonly in non-diarrheal feces. Because the cysts are infectious when passed in the stool or shortly afterward, person-to-person transmission is possible. While animals are infected with Giardia, their importance as a reservoir is unclear.
Source: CDC
Popular Topics: Swine Flu | H1N1 | MRSA | Staph | Norovirus | Flu | E. Coli | C. Difficile | Salmonella | Green Cleaning | Cleaning for Health | Nosocomial Infections | Disinfection | Bacteria | Viruses | Indoor Air Quality | Asthma | Allergies | Allergen | Mold
This site donated by:
