The CISA researcher Carolina Gasparinho iand Filipa Ferreira are the authors of the Molecular characterization of Giardia lamblia in children less than 5 years of age with diarrhoea attending the Bengo General Hospital, Angola study published in the Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene journal from Oxford University Press.

This involves the molecular characterisation of Giardia lamblia identified in children aged under five suffering from diarrhoea and treated at Bengo General Hospital between September 2012 and December 2013. Giardia lamblia is an intestinal protozoa with a high level of prevalence in children, especially in regions with poor hygiene and sanitation conditions, and already identified as bearing harmful effects for the growth and cognitive development of children.

In Angola, other studies had already identified the more common incidence of intestinal protozoa in children. However, thus far, no study had brought about its molecular characterisation. This study, in Bengo province, verified this high rate of Giardia infection and, following the molecular characterisation of isolated protozoa, the majority were identified as belonging to the B genotype.

There had hitherto been no clear association between this genotype and the probability of causing diarrhoea or other symptoms and with future studies enabling the exploration of the epidemiology of Giardia infection in Angola correspondingly now essential.