Liver Fluke
Medically Reviewed by Jill Seladi-Schulman, PhD on 22 August 2017 — Written by Becky Young
Symptoms and side effects Life cycle Treatment Has it passed? Risk factors Outlook
Overview
A liver fluke is a parasitic worm. Infections in humans usually occur after eating contaminated raw or undercooked freshwater fish or watercress. After liver flukes have been ingested, they travel from your intestines to your bile ducts in your liver where they then live and grow.
Although most infected individuals don’t show any symptoms, sometimes symptoms arise related to the biliary system. In rare cases, long-term complications can also develop.
Liver fluke infections aren’t common in the United States, but they do occur. Your risk of infection increases if you travel to parts of the world where the parasites are widespread.
Symptoms and side effects
In the short term, a liver fluke infection can bring about symptoms such as:
There are also some rare complications associated with heavy liver fluke infections. These include stone formation, recurrent infections of the biliary system, and cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer).
LIFE CYCLE
Life cycle of a liver fluke
The adult parasites settle in the small bile ducts and can live there for 20 to 30 years. The long-lived flukes can cause long-lasting chronic inflammation of the bile ducts, which often leads to further problems.
Four to six months after they settle in the bile ducts, the adult flukes start producing eggs, which are then passed out into the intestines.
TREATMENT
Treatment options
Prevention
It’s important to know that liver fluke infection can be easily prevented.
Ensuring that freshwater fish and watercress are thoroughly cooked before consuming them is the most effective way to prevent a liver fluke infection.
People who are travelling to areas with poor sanitation should certainly avoid food and water that could potentially be contaminated with the parasites. This is because there currently is no vaccine available to prevent liver fluke infections.
Medication or surgery
It’s possible to eradicate liver flukes completely. An infection will usually be treated with a drug called triclabendazole. It’s given orally, usually in one or two doses, and most people respond well to this treatment.
A short course of corticosteroids is sometimes prescribed for acute phases with severe symptoms.
Surgery is sometimes required for related long-term complications like cholangitis (infection of the bile duct).
Alternative treatments
Some alternative therapy practitioners recommend taking golden seal for parasitic infections, as well as parasite cleanses and colonic irrigation.
Symptom relief
The symptoms of a liver fluke infection can also be treated using traditional methods. For example, you can take acetaminophen(Tylenol) to relieve abdominal pain and to reduce fever. Anti-nausea medications can reduce nausea and vomiting.
However, these methods don’t treat the root cause of the problem. So it’s always a better course of action to have your liver fluke infection diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.
HAS IT PASSED?
How to tell if the liver fluke has passed
If you’re symptomatic, you may find that your symptoms pass. This may leave you wondering if your liver fluke infection has cleared. The only sure way to tell is to revisit your doctor, who can test your stool to see if liver fluke eggs are present.
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