Parasites, Hosts and Diseases

The Korea Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (대한기생충학·열대의학회)
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An Autochthonous Human Case of Fasciolopsiasis in Nepal

  • Sah, Ranjit (Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Institute of Medicine) ;
  • Calatri, Michele (University of Cagliari-Faculty of Medicine and Surgery) ;
  • Toledo, Rafael (Area de Parasitologia, Departamento de Farmacia, Tecnologia Farmaceutica y Parasitologia, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Valencia)
  • Received : 2019.02.21
  • Accepted : 2019.04.10
  • Published : 2019.06.30
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Abstract

Fasciolopsiasis is rarely known as the parasitic disease in Nepal. Herein, we report a case of fasciolopsiasis in a 22-year-old man who was admitted in the hospital with abdominal pain, distension and loss of appetite for a month. He had previously diagnosed with acute viral hepatitis but, his abdominal pain was not resolving despite improvement in his liver function and general condition. During endoscopy an adult digenean worm was seen in the first part of the duodenum. After isolation, the worm was identified morphologically as Fasciolopsis buski. Microscogic examination of the patient's stool revealed eggs with a morphology consistent with F. buski. Eggs were yellow-brown, ellipsoidal, unembmbryonated, operculated, filled with yolk cells, with thin shell and ranging $118-130{\mu}m$ in length and $60-69{\mu}m$ in width. The abdominal pain of the patient was resolved after treatment with praziquantel. By the present study, it was confirmed for the first time that fasciolopsiasis is indigenously transmitted in Nepal. Accordingly, the epidemiological studies in humans and reservoir host animals should be performed intensively in near future.

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References

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