How can you catch Fasciola Gigantica?
With approximately 35 million people in the world are infected with liver flukes throughout the world you may want to know how It's caused and how to avoid it.
You can catch Fasciola by accidentally ingesting the eggs of snails, ingesting watercress or other water born plants, are the main cause of Fasciola. In order to prevent catching it, ensure you only eat water born plants from safe sources and trusted providers. The liver fluke causes the disease fascioliasis
With approximately 35 million people in the world are infected with liver flukes throughout the world you may want to know how It's caused and how to avoid it.
You can catch Fasciola by accidentally ingesting the eggs of snails, ingesting watercress or other water born plants, are the main cause of Fasciola. In order to prevent catching it, ensure you only eat water born plants from safe sources and trusted providers. The liver fluke causes the disease fascioliasis
How it is treated:
In order to treat Fasciola, there are wide arrays of anthelminthic (anti-worm) drugs you can take. The drug most commonly used (on humans) is Triclabendazole, more commonly known as Egaten. Praziquantel is also used n humans with a success rate of 70%. Yomesan (niclosamide) and Vermox (mebandazole) may also administrated. In order to treat animals for this you will have to give them a drug called halogenated phenols known as Bithionol.
However if the disease is detected too late and the damage done is excessive, part of the liver will have to be surgically removed. So of course the sooner the infection is detected and treated the better health that person would be.
There is an experimental drug called tribendimidine. An article released by the lancelet medical journal announced that this drug is as safe but more effective than usual procedural treatments.
These drugs are aimed to poison the patient. Doing more damage to the parasite than than the person taking the treatment.
Symptoms:
•Fever: usually the first symptom of the disease; 40-42°C
•Abdominal pain
•Gastrointestinal disturbances: loss of appetite, flatulence, nausea, diarrhoea
•Urticaria (Severe rash on skin)
•Respiratory symptoms (very rare):cough, dyspnoea, chest pain,hemoptysis
•Hepatomegaly (enlarged liver) and splenomegaly (large spleen)
•Ascites (lumps)
•Anaemia (low iron in blood)
•Jaundice (Yellowing of skin tissue)
Most people who are infected at first will show no symptoms; however patients with severe infection suffer from fatigue and abdominal discomfort. Long standing infection may cause stone formation in the bile ducts and the gallbladder, recurrent bacterial secondary infections in the bile ducts and cancer of the bile ducts.
Pathogenesis:
"Infections have been associated with two types of liver disease in domestic animals: acute or subacute necrotic disease due to juvenile flukes; and chronic fibrotic disease due to adult flukes. Penetration of the liver capsule by immature flukes generally does not cause much damage, but their subsequent migration through the liver parenchyma may cause significant necrosis (liver rot). Mass migration of juveniles may produce extensive traumatic tissue damage, coagulative necrosis, haemorrhage, urticaria, eosinophilia, leukocytosis, pallor, anaemia, and can be fatal. Acute infections in sheep can also be complicated by secondary bacterial infection causing clostridial necrotic hepatitis (‘black disease’). Chronic infections by the long-lived adults feeding on the lining of the bile ducts may result in progressive loss of condition, biliary epithelial hyperplasia, duct fibrosis, biliary obstruction and cholangitis, jaundice, and eventually a fibrotic hardened liver. Sheep may become anaemic and emaciated, developing submandibular oedema (bottle-jaw) and ascites. In cattle, the bile ducts often become calcified producing a ‘clay-pipe’ or ‘pipe-stem’ liver. Chronic fascioliasis causes significant economic losses to many animal industries through mortality, reduced meat, milk and fibre production, condemned livers, secondary infections and expensive treatments." (source: http://parasite.org.au/para-site/text/fasciola-text.html?_sm_byp=iVV3ZpjjFZ2SCZV5)
how to test liver fluke:
If you've just from or live in an endemic area it is recommended you do a liver ultra sound or an ova test. However if your trying to detect an early stage of the fluke try getting an ELISA scan (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)
In order to treat Fasciola, there are wide arrays of anthelminthic (anti-worm) drugs you can take. The drug most commonly used (on humans) is Triclabendazole, more commonly known as Egaten. Praziquantel is also used n humans with a success rate of 70%. Yomesan (niclosamide) and Vermox (mebandazole) may also administrated. In order to treat animals for this you will have to give them a drug called halogenated phenols known as Bithionol.
However if the disease is detected too late and the damage done is excessive, part of the liver will have to be surgically removed. So of course the sooner the infection is detected and treated the better health that person would be.
There is an experimental drug called tribendimidine. An article released by the lancelet medical journal announced that this drug is as safe but more effective than usual procedural treatments.
These drugs are aimed to poison the patient. Doing more damage to the parasite than than the person taking the treatment.
Symptoms:
•Fever: usually the first symptom of the disease; 40-42°C
•Abdominal pain
•Gastrointestinal disturbances: loss of appetite, flatulence, nausea, diarrhoea
•Urticaria (Severe rash on skin)
•Respiratory symptoms (very rare):cough, dyspnoea, chest pain,hemoptysis
•Hepatomegaly (enlarged liver) and splenomegaly (large spleen)
•Ascites (lumps)
•Anaemia (low iron in blood)
•Jaundice (Yellowing of skin tissue)
Most people who are infected at first will show no symptoms; however patients with severe infection suffer from fatigue and abdominal discomfort. Long standing infection may cause stone formation in the bile ducts and the gallbladder, recurrent bacterial secondary infections in the bile ducts and cancer of the bile ducts.
Pathogenesis:
"Infections have been associated with two types of liver disease in domestic animals: acute or subacute necrotic disease due to juvenile flukes; and chronic fibrotic disease due to adult flukes. Penetration of the liver capsule by immature flukes generally does not cause much damage, but their subsequent migration through the liver parenchyma may cause significant necrosis (liver rot). Mass migration of juveniles may produce extensive traumatic tissue damage, coagulative necrosis, haemorrhage, urticaria, eosinophilia, leukocytosis, pallor, anaemia, and can be fatal. Acute infections in sheep can also be complicated by secondary bacterial infection causing clostridial necrotic hepatitis (‘black disease’). Chronic infections by the long-lived adults feeding on the lining of the bile ducts may result in progressive loss of condition, biliary epithelial hyperplasia, duct fibrosis, biliary obstruction and cholangitis, jaundice, and eventually a fibrotic hardened liver. Sheep may become anaemic and emaciated, developing submandibular oedema (bottle-jaw) and ascites. In cattle, the bile ducts often become calcified producing a ‘clay-pipe’ or ‘pipe-stem’ liver. Chronic fascioliasis causes significant economic losses to many animal industries through mortality, reduced meat, milk and fibre production, condemned livers, secondary infections and expensive treatments." (source: http://parasite.org.au/para-site/text/fasciola-text.html?_sm_byp=iVV3ZpjjFZ2SCZV5)
how to test liver fluke:
If you've just from or live in an endemic area it is recommended you do a liver ultra sound or an ova test. However if your trying to detect an early stage of the fluke try getting an ELISA scan (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)
How you body reacts, immune system (over simplified):
White blood cells are found circulating blood and their primary function is to kill all unhelpful or foreign substances. Mast cells are a white blood cell that detect ‘intruders’ in the body. These intruders could vary to bacteria, pollen and in this case flukes. When something that isn’t the part of bodies makeup the cell releases a chemical called histamine. Histamine lets the surrounding tissue more permeable allowing fluid to flow into the affected area causing inflammation and swelling. Histamine also calls a heap of white blood cells to the area histamine is secreted to fight the intruder.
Fevers when to high can be fatal, however when sick can be helpful to the body. If an infection or worms spread over a large part of the body the body can be triggered. The hypothalamus is a part of the brain that controls hormones and regulates body temperature. When white blood cells decide to create a fever they release hormones called Endogenous pyrogens triggers the hypothalamus to increase body temperatures. The effects of increasing body temperatures are:
· Increased fat metabolism
· A feeling of cold (making us seek heat)
· Reduces iron concentration in the blood (adding to the symptom of anemia, reducing iron slows down a viruses reproduction rate)
· Speeds up phagocytes (speeds up fighting white blood cells, simple chemistry add heat to something to speed up a reaction, work rate)
· Increases the production of the protein interferon (which slows down a infection invasion of a single cell, increase their resistance to attack)
Urticaria (sometimes called hives) is an itchy rash caused by tiny amounts of fluid that leak from blood vessels just under the skin surface causing irritation.
White blood cells are found circulating blood and their primary function is to kill all unhelpful or foreign substances. Mast cells are a white blood cell that detect ‘intruders’ in the body. These intruders could vary to bacteria, pollen and in this case flukes. When something that isn’t the part of bodies makeup the cell releases a chemical called histamine. Histamine lets the surrounding tissue more permeable allowing fluid to flow into the affected area causing inflammation and swelling. Histamine also calls a heap of white blood cells to the area histamine is secreted to fight the intruder.
Fevers when to high can be fatal, however when sick can be helpful to the body. If an infection or worms spread over a large part of the body the body can be triggered. The hypothalamus is a part of the brain that controls hormones and regulates body temperature. When white blood cells decide to create a fever they release hormones called Endogenous pyrogens triggers the hypothalamus to increase body temperatures. The effects of increasing body temperatures are:
· Increased fat metabolism
· A feeling of cold (making us seek heat)
· Reduces iron concentration in the blood (adding to the symptom of anemia, reducing iron slows down a viruses reproduction rate)
· Speeds up phagocytes (speeds up fighting white blood cells, simple chemistry add heat to something to speed up a reaction, work rate)
· Increases the production of the protein interferon (which slows down a infection invasion of a single cell, increase their resistance to attack)
Urticaria (sometimes called hives) is an itchy rash caused by tiny amounts of fluid that leak from blood vessels just under the skin surface causing irritation.