When I got back from the Fiji Eco-Challenge I had a few medical issues I had to deal with. While in my throes of agony I asked myself if anyone else was having these problems. I called a few of my Eco-friends to see how they were. They were sick too. So then I sent a message out to the ARA list to see what others were saying. I have summarized the replies and put my findings into this article.

“A skill that expedition racers may need to learn more about is how to deal with microbiology.”

  I have kept everyone's identity private because not everyone is willing to talk about having the poops like me. I ended up with a case of Giardia that kept on going and going, even while I was taking Flagyl. I thought this strain of Giardia seemed very resilient. It was tough to stop. In my original post on the ARA list I called it the OG diet. The OG stands for "Oh God, I have to go again." Or if you say it with disdain it stands for "Oh Giardia." Someone from the list pointed out it could be called the "GO diet". As a diet it works great, you can eat anything you want and still lose some weight.
  I also came back with some unusual infections. Normally my cuts and scrapes don't get infected, or maybe they get a little red. This infection involved a little white stuff in the sores. I tried to clean everything out with Betadine, but one of the sores developed into a boil. I had to have it surgically opened because it didn't drain on its own. It left a nice hole about the size of a 50 cent piece, and a quarter inch deep.
  I found out that I was not alone in my agony. I found that many others also had Giardia, infected boils, and some more dangerous bugs too.

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