0000000000006742
AUTHOR
Veronica H. Agramunt
Early Postnatal and Preschool-Age Infection by Fasciola spp.: Report of Five Cases from Vietnam and Worldwide Review
Fascioliasis is reported in five Vietnamese children aged 4 years or younger. A 10-month-old girl child and a 12-month-old boy child are the youngest patients ever diagnosed. Eggs in stools suggested an infection occurred at 5-6 months and 7-8 months of age, respectively. DNA sequencing and egg size indicated this to be the first report of a verified Fasciola gigantica infection in so small children. No specific diagnosis could be obtained in two 3-year-old children detected in the acute phase. A big and gravid ectopic F. gigantica-like worm was surgically found in a 4-year-old boy presenting with peritonitis. A worldwide review showed only 38 past cases in preschool children. They included…
Human fascioliasis in Argentina: retrospective overview, critical analysis and baseline for future research
Abstract In Argentina, human fascioliasis has never been adequately analysed, although having a physiography, climate, animal prevalences and lymnaeids similar to those of countries where the disease is endemic such as Bolivia, Peru and Chile. We performed a literature search identifying 58 reports accounting for 619 cases, involving 13 provinces, their majority (97.7%) from high altitudes, in central mountainous areas and Andean valleys, concentrated in Cordoba (430 cases), Catamarca (73), San Luis (29) and Mendoza (28), the remaining provinces being rarely affected. This distribution does not fit that of animal fascioliasis. Certain aspects (higher prevalence in females in a local survey,…
Higher physiopathogenicity byFasciola giganticathan by the genetically closeF. hepatica: experimental long-term follow-up of biochemical markers
Background: Fascioliasis is caused by Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica. The latter, always considered secondary in human infection, nowadays appears increasingly involved in Africa and Asia. Unfortunately, little is known about its pathogenicity, mainly due to difficulties in assessing the moment a patient first becomes infected and the differential diagnosis with F. hepatica. Methods: A long-term, 24-week, experimental study comparing F. hepatica and F. giganticawas made for the first time in the same animal model host, Guirra sheep. Serum biochemical parameters of liver damage, serum electrolytes, protein metabolism, plasma proteins, carbohydrate metabolism, hepatic lipid metabolism and…
Characterisation of fascioliasis lymnaeid intermediate hosts from Chile by DNA sequencing, with emphasis on Lymnaea viator and Galba truncatula.
In South America, Fasciola hepatica infection poses serious health problems in both humans and livestock. In Chile, the medical impact appears yearly stable and mainly concentrated in central regions, where the veterinary problem is highlighted by higher animal prevalences. Studies were undertaken by rDNA ITS-2 and ITS-1 and mtDNA cox1 sequencing to clarify the specific status of the lymnaeids, their geographical distribution and fascioliasis transmission capacity in Chile, by comparison with other American countries and continents. Results change the lymnaeid scenario known so far. The lymnaeid fauna of mainland Chile shows to be poor, including only two authochthonous species, Lymnaea via…
Very High Fascioliasis Intensities in Schoolchildren from Nile Delta Governorates, Egypt: The Old World Highest Burdens Found in Lowlands
Quantitative coprological analyses of children were performed in Alexandria and Behera governorates, Egypt, to ascertain whether individual intensities in the Nile Delta lowlands reach high levels as those known in hyperendemic highland areas of Latin America. Analyses focused on subjects presenting intensities higher than 400 eggs per gram of faeces (epg), the high burden cut-off according to WHO classification. A total of 96 children were found to shed between 408 and 2304 epg, with arithmetic and geometric means of 699.5 and 629.07 epg, respectively. Intensities found are the highest hitherto recorded in Egypt, and also in the whole Old World. A total of 38 (39.6%) were males and 58 (60.…
Neurological and Ocular Fascioliasis in Humans
Fascioliasis is a food-borne parasitic disease caused by the trematode species Fasciola hepatica, distributed worldwide, and Fasciola gigantica, restricted to given regions of Africa and Asia. This disease in humans shows an increasing importance, which relies on its recent widespread emergence related to climate and global changes and also on its pathogenicity in the invasive, biliary, and advanced chronic phases in the human endemic areas, mainly of developing countries. In spite of the large neurological affection capacity of Fasciola, this important pathogenic aspect of the disease has been pronouncedly overlooked in the past decades and has not even appear within the numerous reviews o…
Direct and indirect affection of the central nervous system by Fasciola infection
Fascioliasis is a worldwide, zoonotic disease caused by the liver trematodes Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. Neurological fascioliasis has been widely reported in all continents, affecting both sexes and all ages. Two types of records related to two physiopathogenic mechanisms may be distinguished: cases in which the neurological symptoms are due to direct effects of a migrating juvenile present in the brain or neighboring organ and with cerebral lesions suggesting migration through the brain; and cases with neurological symptoms due to indirect immuno-allergic and toxic effects at distance from flukes in the liver. Neurological manifestations include minor symptoms, mainly cephal…
Genetically 'pure' Fasciola gigantica discovered in Algeria: DNA multimarker characterization, trans-Saharan introduction from a Sahel origin and spreading risk into north-western Maghreb countries.
Fascioliasis is a freshwater snail-borne zoonotic helminth disease caused by two species of trematodes: Fasciola hepatica of almost worldwide distribution and the more pathogenic F. gigantica restricted to parts of Asia and most of Africa. Of high pathological impact in ruminants, it underlies large livestock husbandry losses. Fascioliasis is moreover of high public health importance and accordingly included within the main neglected tropical diseases by WHO. Additionally, this is an emerging disease due to influences of climate and global changes. In Africa, F. gigantica is distributed throughout almost the whole continent except in the north-western Maghreb countries of Morocco, Algeria a…