More intestinal adventures!

Intestinal parasites are very common in Ecuador; around 70% of the population has some form. There really is a whole variety to choose from and why just stop with one? Helminthes (worms), amoebas, protozoans, you could have ‘em all!

After my first week’s intestinal nightmare things have been “OK” but definitely not like home. Yesterday Manuel was describing to me the symptoms of an intestinal parasitic infection, pain, gas, intermittent diarrhea… Gosh, sounded just like me!

I told him of my worries and he promptly said we should check! But how you may wonder? Well, first I had to collect my own stool sample (I’ll spare you the details☺). After this Manuel mixed a small amount onto a slide with saline solution (use normal water and bye-bye parasites, they “explode” from the rapid influx of water due to the osmolarity imbalance). We examined it under 10X power for helminth eggs and then at 40X power for protozoans etc. We did see a whole bunch of normal bacteria happily swimming about, some fat droplets, a little vegetative material – but no parasites! Now, this wasn’t the most definitive test, but unless things get really bad it’s reasonably safe to say things are OK.

When I got home from the lab that day I described to Carlos my intestinal testing adventure. He laughed a little before telling me I had it all wrong. There weren’t any “parasites” to be worrying about, sheesh; I just had a simple imbalance in the harmony of my body. New places can do this he said. He prescribed a diet of “hot” foods to combat the “cold” symptoms I was experiencing. Now all I have to do is figure out which foods are okay… I really hope peanut butter makes the list.

Hope your stomachs are all feeling well☺