Symptoms of liver fluke

Everyone must have heard the saying, "Diseases come from the mouth, disasters come from the mouth." Although it is just a common saying, many people do not take it seriously. In fact, many things are like this in reality. For example, in ancient times when the monarchy was constitutional, a person was often beheaded for saying the wrong thing, and it was too late to regret. The situation is the same now. Many people suffer from diseases because of unclean food.

Liver fluke disease is a disease that may be caused by the above reasons. Many people now like to eat foreign food, such as Japanese sashimi and American steak, but these foods often contain a large number of pathogenic bacteria of liver fluke disease. The following is a detailed introduction to liver fluke disease.

Liver fluke disease is also known as Clonorchiasis, which is a parasitic disease caused by Clonorchiasis sinensis parasitizing the bile duct in the human liver. Humans are usually infected by eating undercooked freshwater fish or shrimp that contain C. sinensis metacercariae. Those with mild infection may be asymptomatic, while those with severe infection may experience clinical manifestations such as indigestion, upper abdominal pain, diarrhea, lack of energy, and hepatomegaly. Severe cases may develop complications such as cholangitis, gallstones, and cirrhosis. Clonorchiasis is a parasitic disease caused by Clonorchis sinensis parasitizing the bile ducts in the human liver.

The disease generally has a slow onset, and only a few patients with severe infection within a short period of time will show acute clinical symptoms. People with mild infection often have no symptoms or only have a feeling of fullness in the upper abdomen, lack of appetite or mild abdominal pain after eating. The patient tires easily. Worm eggs can be detected in feces. Those with more severe infections usually have a slower onset and experience loss of appetite, upper abdominal fullness, mild diarrhea, and dull pain in the liver area. 24% to 96.3% of patients have hepatomegaly, especially in the left lobe, with tenderness and percussion pain. It may be accompanied by symptoms of neurasthenia such as dizziness, insomnia, fatigue, lack of energy, palpitations, and memory loss.

Some patients may develop obstructive jaundice or even biliary colic due to large numbers of adult worms blocking the common bile duct. Severe cases of chronic repeated infection develop into cirrhosis and portal hypertension, with symptoms such as weight loss, anemia, varicose veins of the abdominal wall, hepatosplenomegaly, ascites, and jaundice. Children with severe infection may suffer from malnutrition, growth disorders, and even dwarfism. Severe infections often present with acute onset. The incubation period is short, only 15 to 26 days. The patient suddenly developed chills and high fever reaching over 39°C, which was a remittent fever. Lack of appetite, aversion to greasy food, hepatomegaly with tenderness, mild jaundice, and a few patients have splenomegaly. After a few weeks, the acute symptoms disappear and the disease enters a chronic stage, characterized by fatigue, indigestion, hepatomegaly and tenderness, etc.

There is currently no special medical method for treating liver fluke disease. Current treatments generally use symptomatic treatment methods with the purpose of expelling parasites. This shows how harmful liver fluke disease is. Therefore, it is better for friends not to eat raw foods. Although they are delicious, such behavior may often cause diseases, and they are difficult to treat, such as the liver fluke disease mentioned above.