One thing that we have learned on this journey is that CB has a sensitive immune system. He doesn’t get sick often, knock on wood, but his system is sensitive to random infections, bugs, and immune suppressors. During the last few years, he has tested positive for yeast infections, anal strep, d. fragilis, selective IgA deficiency, multiple vitamin deficiencies (despite eating healthy and a variety of foods), food sensitivities, and allergies. OK, some of these are common, but I don’t believe anal strep and d. fragilis are all that common.
The latest culprit is d. fragilis, dientamoeba fragilis. D. fragilis is a parasite that lives in the large intestine. It is controversial as to whether it is pathogenic. If you do a quick search on the web, you will see many anecdotal reports stating that it can cause IBS type symptoms, decrease the body’s ability to absorb iron, and can be very hard to anihilate. You can read more about dientamoeba fragilis at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3862407/.
CB actually tested positive for this in a stool collection provided to Genova Diagnostics. This was part of an thorough work up to assess CB’s overall system health. We treated the entire family with Huma Worm and thought everything was fine. Several of his problems diminished at the end or towards the end of the Huma Worm cleanse so we just assumed the d. fragilis was gone. Fast forward about 11 months, we see d. fragilis reported in his stool again. This time we did an O&P through CPL for a work up to determine whether we should consider seeing a pediatric gastroentologist. We don’t know if d. fragilis diminised but not completely or CB was reinfected. This time we treated the d. fragilis with a 3 day antibiotic of Alinia. We aided the effectiveness of the antibiotic with oil of oregano the day before the antibiotic and for the first 2 days on the antibiotic. We then started a probiotic on the 3rd day and have continued with the probiotic treatment. This is to help restore the gut after the antibitoics destroy the bad and the good stuff. We used Springboard FloraBoost Probiotic for Kids b/c it has L. acidophilus.
Two weeks after the completion of the antibiotics, we provided a follow-up stool sample to CPL. We are glad to report that his stool came back clear. The plan is to keep CB on the probiotic and most likely add back in his multivitamin. We don’t plan to supplement with anything else and do blood work in about 1.5 months to check his vitamin levels. Hesitantly optimistic that some of his nutrient levels will improve with the removal of d. fragilis. We also will most likely do another follow-up stool sample in 4-6 months just to ensure d. fragilis wasn’t just hiding and is really gone.