Fasciology

Proven content

Fasciolosis is a disease called parasite or fluke disease, it arises when the body is infected with a fluke, a parasite of the flatworm type. This parasite requires two hosts in its development. Intermediate hosts are marsh snails, quite common in small water reservoirs and in wet pasture-meadow areas and in roadside ditches. The final hosts are mostly ruminants, especially sheep and goats.

The emergence of fasciology

The disease arises when the body is infected with flukes. Flukes, a parasite from the group of flatworms, requires two hosts:

1. Intermediate hosts are marsh snails, often found in wetlands (pastures, meadows), in small water reservoirs, and in roadside ditches,
2. The final hosts are usually ruminants (especially goat and sheep).

Moreover, this parasite may be present in some animals, e.g. pig, rabbit, cow, hare, horse. Man, on the other hand, is seldom the ultimate host of flukes. The size of the parasite is quite significant as it is 0,4 to 1 cm wide and 2-5 cm long, and its shape is similar to a pumpkin seed.

Parasite infestation mechanism

Adult flukes’ eggs are excreted with the faeces of the final host. If the eggs enter the aquatic environment, it is there that embryonic development takes place, which takes about 2-3 weeks. Parasite embryos enter the body of intermediate hosts, where they undergo further development (about 5-10 weeks), the parasite multiplies, and then, leaving the body of the intermediate host, gets into the external environment. There, the fluke waits to be swallowed by the final host, where it loses its envelopes and usually travels to the liver (then we are talking about the liver fluke).

Important! In some people, the fluke can also be found in the muscles, brain, or lung parenchyma. Due to their size, adult parasites are not excreted in human faeces, but only their eggs.

Man becomes infected with fasciolosis usually by the oral route, for example by drinking unboiled water from natural water reservoirs or by sucking on contaminated grass and grains, while walking in wetlands with endemic butterflies.

Symptoms of fasciology

Infection with fasciolosis causes many symptoms of disease. Immediately after infection, various allergic skin reactions or haematological reactions (anemia and iron deficiency) may appear.

A few weeks after infection with the parasite, there is a period of acute illness that resembles the symptoms seen in viral hepatitis:

1. pain in the liver,
2. general weakness and malaise of the patient,
3. nausea,
4. periodic diarrhea,
5. feverish or low-grade fever,
6. lack of appetite or its significant decrease,

On the other hand, with more intense and longer-lasting infections with fasciolosis, increasing jaundice and fibrous changes around the parasites and the bile ducts they affect, which ultimately lead to cirrhosis of the liver.

Fasciology – diagnosis

The diagnosis of fasciology is based on the detection of fluke eggs in the duodenum or faeces and specific serological reactions. As for adult parasites, it is impossible to reveal them either in the duodenal content or in the stool, due to their large size. The greatest chance of a 3% diagnosis is when the parasite reaches the appropriate maturity (approximately 4-XNUMX months after infection). Then the presence of flukes is found in the tested material.

Based on a specific serological test, the probability of fasciolosis can be predetermined.

Fasciology – treatment

Treatment of fasciology is most often carried out in a hospital by a specialist doctor. The patient’s organism may react differently to the therapy. The reaction is usually caused by the restlessness of the (poisoned) parasites, which, due to their large size, cannot be excreted through the bile into the gastrointestinal tract and out. The patient’s response to treatment is proportional to the intensity of the infection. The subject may experience:

1. vomiting,
2. diarrhea,
3. nausea,
4. abdominal pain (cramps).

Can fasciology be prevented?

Prophylaxis in fasciology should be based on:

1. effectively treating infected animals
2. getting rid of contaminated animals that can usually be found among herbivores, especially livestock and cattle;
3. the control of intermediate hosts (snails) in areas where the liver fluke is endemic. This can be done, for example, by draining grassy wetlands and eliminating unnecessary watercourses;
4. preventing contamination of the natural environment with butterfly eggs by means of periodic animal examinations;
5. composting the excrements of animals, where the butterfly eggs most often live, and disinfecting sewage;
6. avoid camping in wetlands;
7. avoiding the sucking of cress or sorrel – plants on which the fluke larvae may most often be found.

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