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Vol 27 No 2 December - The Indian Society for Parasitology

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JPD : <strong>Vol</strong>. <strong>27</strong> (2), 2003<br />

Trematodes of public health importance<br />

71<br />

<strong>The</strong> second I.H. is a fish (Mugil cephalus, Tilapia<br />

nilotica, Aphanius fasciatus and Acanthogobius<br />

(sps). <strong>The</strong> cercariae which escape from the mollusc<br />

encyst superficially in fishes which constitute the<br />

source of infection <strong>for</strong> man and other mammals.<br />

Infection takes place through eating infected raw fish.<br />

(Faust et al 1975, Hafeez, 1993)<br />

<strong>The</strong>se parasites in the nucosal crypts at the duodenum<br />

and jejunum produce superficial irritation of the<br />

gonads, with excess secretion of mucus and superficial<br />

necrosis of the mucosa. In heavy infections this may be<br />

accompanied by Colicy pains and mucous diarrhoea.<br />

More serious is the occasional deep penetration of the<br />

worms into the mucous coat of the intestine , so that<br />

their minute eggs get into mesenteric venules (or)<br />

lymphatics and are carried to the heart, brain or spinal<br />

cord where they may stimulate granulomatous<br />

reactions with symptoms related to these lesions.<br />

Metagonimus yokogawai<br />

It is probably the most common heterophyid fluke in<br />

the USSR, <strong>No</strong>rthern Siberia, Korea, Japan, Formosa,<br />

Egypt and Bukan states. It was discovered by<br />

yokogawa in 1911 in the gills, scales and muscles of<br />

fresh water fish in Formosa. <strong>The</strong>se flukes usually occur<br />

in the small intestine of man and other definitive hosts<br />

like pigs, dogs, cats, etc. <strong>The</strong> first I.H. is the snail<br />

nd<br />

Semisulcospira libertina and related species, the 2<br />

I.H. are several sps. of fresh water fishes (the Trout<br />

Necoglosscus altivelis, Salmoperri udontobutis and<br />

Leuciscus sps.). <strong>The</strong> cercariae encyst under the scales<br />

or in the tissues of the gills, fins or tails and the final<br />

host gets infection itself by eating these raw fishes.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se minute worms attach to the cell in the mucosal<br />

crypts, usually at the duodenal and jejunal walls of the<br />

small intestine, causing excess secretion of mucus,<br />

superficial erosion of the mucosal and granulomatous<br />

infiltration aroung egg deposits in the stomal tissue.<br />

<strong>The</strong> worms have also been demonstrated deep in the<br />

mucosal layer where they remain until they die but<br />

with out host tissue encapsulation. <strong>The</strong> symptoms<br />

consists of mild to moderate mucous diarrhoea of a<br />

persistant type. Similar observations were also noticed<br />

in man and domestic animals infected with M.<br />

yokogawai in USSR.<br />

HEAPATIC FLUKES<br />

Fasciola hepatica<br />

F hepatica was the first trematode to be described and<br />

was likewise the first one on which the complete<br />

lifecycle was elucidated, by Leuckart in Germany in<br />

1882 and by Thomas in England in 1883. It is<br />

particularly prevalent in sheep raising areas. In several<br />

countries human infection is an increasing clinical and<br />

public health problem. <strong>The</strong> parasite is cosmopolitan in<br />

distribution and occurs in the liver of sheep, goat, cattle<br />

and man.<br />

<strong>The</strong> intermediate hosts are snails of the genus Lymnea.<br />

<strong>The</strong> infection is contracted by ingesting vegetation on<br />

which the cercariae of F. hepatica have encysted. <strong>The</strong><br />

metacercariae encyst in the duodenum migrate<br />

through the intestinal wall into the peritoneal cavity,<br />

penetrate the capsules of the livers traverse its<br />

parenchyma and ultimately settle in the biliary<br />

passage. <strong>The</strong>y begin to liberate eggs in about 3 to 4<br />

months.<br />

<strong>The</strong> migrating immature flukes cause both traumatic<br />

damage and toxic irritation with necrosis of tissues<br />

along their pathway. In the larger bile passages they<br />

produce hyperplasia of the biliary epithelium with<br />

leucocytic infiltration and development of a fibrous<br />

capsule around the ducts.<br />

In sheep it causes a fatal disease called "Liver rot" with<br />

enlargement of the bile duct, cirrhosis of the liver and<br />

ascites. Early symptoms in human infections consists<br />

of right upper quadrant abdominal pain, fever, and<br />

hepatomegaly, biliary colic with coughing and<br />

vomiting, marked Jaundice, generalized abdominal<br />

rigidity, diarrhoea, irregular fever, profuse sweating.<br />

Urticaria, significant eosoniphilia and Loeffler's<br />

syndrome may appear. <strong>The</strong> mature or adolescent<br />

worms have been found in abscess pockets in blood<br />

vessels, lungs, subcutaneous tissues, ventricles of the<br />

brain and orbit, often associated with mature worms in<br />

the bile passage. It was also recorded from a breast<br />

abscess.<br />

Fasciola gigantica<br />

<strong>The</strong> giant liver fluke, differs from F. hepatica in its<br />

greater length, more attenuate shape, shorter anterior

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