Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Abdominal Symptoms After Giardia Infection: Clinical Evaluation, Biomarkers, Risk Factors and the Effect of Intervention

A giardiasis outbreak in Bergen has given us the opportunity to approach two basic research questions of national and global importance:

• Studying the pathoimmunology of giardiasis in a natural setting, and following the genetic and immunological responses leading to recovery or persistent disease and sequelae.
• Studying the two disease entities FGID and CFS when induced by acute giardiasi and their risk factors.
• Interventional cognitive behavioural therapy is the only intervention documented to have significant effect on CFS outcome, and conventional cognitive behavioural therapy will be compared to a psycho-educational programme in the format of a randomised controlled trial.