How is blastocystosis treated?

How is blastocystosis treated?

The need to treat blastocystosis is unclear since its role in causing illness isn't fully understood.

Treatments healthcare providers use include:

• Antibiotics, such as metronidazole or cotrimoxazole, which combine the medications trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole.
• Antiparasitic medications such as nitazoxanide.

These medications often resolve symptoms but they aren't always effective. Variable treatment success may be due to antibiotic resistance or variability between the different strains of Blastocystis. Alternatively, symptoms may be caused by another organism.

Natural treatments, special diets and herbal supplements for blastocystosis are also available. The effectiveness of these treatments has not been well studied. Talk to your healthcare provider before using these treatments to make sure they are safe.