There’s a troubling trend happening across the country, and it’s particularly affecting young African American women. Media Take Out spoke with three young women, one from Atlanta, one from Jacksonville, and one from Memphis – who all were recently diagnosed with a rare case of intestinal parasites.
And all three claim that they contracted the parasites after engaging in b**ty eating – a new potentially dangerous new craze being popularized by female rappers like Sexyy Red and Sukihana.
The three women were all diagnosed with giardia, Media Take Out confirmed. Giardia is an infection that is passed by person to person by ingesting infected f*cal matter. The disease used to only be found in third world countries with poor sanitation.
But Media Take Out has learned that now the disease is popping up in cities across America – and it’s hitting Black women particularly hard.
The first woman, who lives in Jacksonville Florida, explained her symptoms. She explained, “I started having painful diarrhea. My [bowel movements] were liquid and they hurt, and it lasted more than 2 weeks.”
She went to a local clinic and was diagnosed with giardia. The woman continued, “The nurse told me that she’s seeing more and more young Black women with this. She said it used to only be gay men who got it, but now most of the people she finds with it are Black women.”
The two other women we spoke to – one from Memphis, Tennessee and the other from Atlanta, Georgia – told Media Take Out that medical professionals gave them the same news about the spread of parasites among young Black women.
The woman from Memphis told us, “[The doctor] said its a growing problem in the Black community among women.”
The disease, which could be problematic if left untreated, can be cured by the use of powerful antibiotics. The World Health Organization and Infectious Disease Society of America recommends the antibiotic metronidazole as first line therapy.
In people with a properly functioning immune system, infection may resolve without medication. A small portion, however, develop a chronic infection. People with an impaired immune system are at higher risk of chronic infection. Medication is an effective cure for nearly all people although there is growing drug-resistance.
