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What are the symptoms of a gut parasite infection?
Gastrointestinal (GI) infections may be caused by a range of parasites. Consequently, GI infections may present with a range of symptoms and timings.
Symptoms can range from mild to severe, with more severe infections genreally seen in young children, older adults, pregnant women. For those who are immunocompromised, the illness can become life-threatening.
The incubation period typically lasts around 7 days but can vary from up to 3 weeks before symptoms appear. Some infections clear up after 3 days of symptoms, while others may persist for more than 4 weeks.
Depending on the parasite, GI infections can lead to a range of symptoms including:
- profuse, watery diarrhoea
- abdominal cramping
- bloating
- nausea and vomiting
- fever
- appetite loss
- weight loss
- fatigue
Concerningly, some people may be infected with a GI parasite but are asymptomatic, meaning that they have no obvious symptoms of infection. However, longer-term health impacts of these asymptomatic infections have been reported. These silent infections may interfere with physical growth and cognitive development, and the impact of the infection can worsen with repeated exposure.
GI parasites have a lifecycle that involves formation of durable ova or cysts. That lifecycle may last up to several days, so infection may still spread sometime after symptoms have resolved.
If you or your family develop a gastrointestinal illness, consult your doctor for medical advice.
How do I know if I am infected with a gust parasite?
Identifying a GI parasite infection by symptoms alone can be challenging, due to shared symptoms with many other gastrointestinal infections. The only way to definitively identify a parasite infection is to test for it.
However, due to sporadic shedding of gastrointestinal parasites in stool, infections are often missed using microscopic methods, with less than 50% of infections detected!
Confidence in parasite detection:
Unlike conventional methods that rely on parasite shedding to reveal infection (often needing 3 different samples across 10 days), Genetic Signatures’ advanced molecular PCR technology delivers accurate, same-day results from a single patient sample.
Recently FDA-cleared, this breakthrough test screens for 8 gastrointestinal parasites.
- Provides faster test results and higher accuracy than conventional tests
- Backed by leading diagnostic labs and public health networks
- Designed for both higher throughput outbreak response and routine testing
Identification of these parasites allows clinicians better manage your health and reduce the chance of further spread of disease, and outbreaks.
I am a patient / clinician:
How can I access this test?
Don’t wait for symptoms to worsen. Get tested with Genetic Signatures’ advanced PCR technology. We partner with leading diagnostic laboratories around the world to provide accurate, fast and reliable results for infectious disease.
Complete the form below we’ll connect you with the nearest lab offering our cutting-edge testing solutions for gastrointestinal parasites.
I work in a diagnostic laboratory: How can I access this test?
Learn how you can employ streamlined multiplex PCR testing for 8 parasites and up to 60 patients in a single, automated workflow with same day reporting.
Click to learn more about the parasites we detect
Contact us to find out where you can access our test
We work in partnership with leading diagnostics laboratories around the globe.
To find your nearest parasite detection laboratory, contact us now.