Human fascioliasis

Abstract

Fasciola hepatica, a zoonotic liver fluke, can also cause disease in humans. Common symptoms are epigastric pain, upper abdominal pain and malaise. Fever and arthralgia are common in acute fascioliasis. Eosinophilia is the predominant laboratory finding, especially in patients with the acute form of the disease. Diagnosis and treatment is not easy, as physicians rarely encounter this disease, and effective drugs are not available in many countries. Human fascioliasis may be underestimated. Patients with eosinophilia and abdominal pain should be evaluated for F. hepatica infestation by parasitological, radiological and serological tests. © 2004 Copyright by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.