What is the Difference Between Giardia and Trichomonas

The key difference between Giardia and Trichomonas is that Giardia shows “falling leaf” motility while Trichomonas shows jitterbug motility.

Giardia and Trichomonas are two parasitic protozoa that are similar in size and shape. They are flagellates. Giardia causes giardiasis, which is a diarrheal disease. Trichomonas causes trichomoniasis, which is a common sexually transmitted disease. Giardia is mainly transmitted through contaminated drinking or recreational water, while Trichomonas is mainly transmitted through genital contact.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Giardia  
3. What is Trichomonas
4. Similarities – Giardia and Trichomonas
5. Giardia vs Trichomonas in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Giardia vs Trichomonas

What is Giardia?

Giardia is a parasitic protozoan. It is a pear-shaped, flagellated tiny organism that mainly causes diarrhea or giardiasis. Giardia infects the small intestine and impairs mucosal absorption. Giardia is mainly transmitted through the consumption of contaminated water. It can also be transmitted through food, contaminated surfaces, and objects. Species of Giardia. G. lamblia can be responsible for severe diarrhea, which can lead to chronic diarrhea and nutritional disorders. Giardia lamblia is the most common disease caused by them. The common symptoms of giardiasis are diarrhea, gas, greasy stools that tend to float, stomach or abdominal cramps, upset stomach or nausea/vomiting, and dehydration (loss of fluids). As the infection is contracted via contaminated waterways, it is important to create awareness about environmental cleanliness.

There are two forms of Giardia as motile trophozoites and non-motile cysts. Cysts come to the environment through fecal matter and then infect a new host. The life cycle of Giardia can be described in relation to the process of excystation. The parasite is flagellated, and the life cycle alters between the cyst phase and the trophozoite phase. When the mature cysts of Giardia are ingested, they reach the intestines. The cysts are resistant and can survive under harsh environmental conditions. When the cysts reach the small intestine, they undergo excystation and release trophozoites. In Giardia, each cyst has the ability to produce two trophozoites. Trophozoites reside in the lumen of the small intestine, and they remain attached to the mucosa of the small intestine. This leads to infections.

What is Trichomonas?

Trichomonas is a flagellated, pear-shaped, parasitic protozoan similar to Giardia. Unlike, Giradia, Trichomonas exists only as one morphological stage that is trophozoite, and it cannot encyst. Trichomonas, especially T. vaginalis, infects the urogenital tract and causes a sexually transmitted disease called trichomoniasis. Most of the infected people (about 70%) show no symptoms. However, in some women, symptoms such as foul-smelling vaginal discharge, genital itching, and painful urination can be seen. Pregnant women who are infected with Trichomonas can have the risk of delivering premature babies. Men show symptoms such as itching or irritation inside the penis, a burning sensation when urinating, discharges from the penis, etc. Trichomoniasis increases the risk of other sexually transmitted diseases since trichomoniasis causes irritation in the genital area. It can also increase the risk of HIV.

Infection of Trichomonas can be prevented by having no sex with an infected person or use of protection such as condoms during the sex. Antibiotic medication is the main mode of medication that treats trichomoniasis.

What are the Similarities Between Giardia and Trichomonas?

• Both Giardia and Trichomonas are flagellates.
• They are single-celled protozoans.
• They are parasites that cause diseases in humans.
• Structurally, they are similar in size and shape.
• They are motile and pear-shaped.

What is the Difference Between Giardia and Trichomonas?

Giardia is a tiny parasitic protozoan that causes giardiasis, while Trichomonas is a tiny parasitic protozoan that causes trichomoniasis. Thus, this is the key difference between Giardia and trichomonas. Transmission of Giardia mainly occurs through contaminated drinking and recreational water. In contrast, the transmission of Trichomonas occurs through direct skin-to-skin contact (genital contact). Furthermore, Giradia exists in two morphological stages as trophozoites and cysts, while Trichomonas exists only as trophozoites.

The below infographic presents the differences between Giardia and trichomonas in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Giardia vs Trichomonas

Giardia and Trichomonas are tiny parasitic protozoans that are single-celled. They are motile, and they have flagella. Giardia causes giardiasis, which is a diarrheal disease. Trichomonas causes trichomoniasis, which is a sexually transmitted disease. Giardia infection occurs through contaminated drinking and recreational water, food, surfaces, and objects. On the other hand, Trichomonas infection occurs through direct genital contact. Giardia has a cyst form, while Trichomonas does not have a cyst form. So, this summarizes the difference between Giardia and trichomonas.

Reference:

1. “Giardia Infection (Giardiasis).” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 16 July 2021.
2. “Trichomonas Vaginalis.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2022.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Giardia lamblia SEM 8698 lores” By CDC / Janice Haney Carr – (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Trichomonas vaginalis” By Stefan Walkowski – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia