Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke)

Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke) – General Information

Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke) is a type of fluke included in the Trematoda class. It is generated by a parasite which is firstly developed inside the body of a snail. This parasite, named phylum platyhelminthes, grows in fresh-water until a snail eats it. In the interior of the snail body, the parasite turns into an adult, continues to grow and it then multiplies.  After it reaches its final stage of evolution which is called the redia, the parasite is eliminated in a fresh-water environment again. From this point, it will search for a new host, a fish; inside the fish’s body, more exactly in the fish’s muscles, the parasite creates a cyst around it. Then the parasite encapsulates itself in this cyst, for protecting. This is a useful method even when people eat the fish muscle. The cyst protects the parasite against the acids in the human gastric system and this way it reaches the intestines. From the intestines, the parasite navigates to the liver and it establishes there. Once it settles its habitat in the liver, it feeds with the bile which is created by the liver. This way it can produce more than 10 eggs per hour which assure a fast and threatening evolution.

Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke) is more common in the regions such as China, Southeast Asia, Japan and Taiwan, where it affects more than 32 millions of people each year. If not diagnosed and treated in due time, this disease can lead to serious complications and even death.

Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke) – Symptoms

  The most common signs and symptoms in the case of Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke) are: anorexia: an eating disorder which usually appears in the case of teenagers. People who suffer from anorexia are obsessed with their weight and they present extreme weight loss. Despite this, they are sure that they are overweight and they try different techniques to loss pounds: usage of laxatives in order to eliminate even the few aliments they have eaten or refusal of any kind of food.

Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke) – Treatment

If the patient is diagnosed with Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke), the doctor will probably choose one of the following ways of treatment: administration of albendazole or administration of praziquantel or in some cases, administration of triclabendazole, bithionol or mebendazole. These drugs are used in order to force the parasites inside the body to drop off from the blood vessels which they use as hosts. Albendazole is administrated in order to suppress the infection and to inhibit the metabolism of the parasites, which will finally lead to the death of the parasites. Praziquantel is administrated in order to treat more severe forms of the disorder; it usually treats a combination of liver fluke, blood fluke, intestinal fluke and lung fluke. The duration of the treatment in the case of Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke) depends on the severity of the disorder and on the type of parasites which caused it. However, the treatment usually lasts from a couple of days to a few weeks. In the first phase, these drugs can provoke side effects, such as dizziness, headaches or diarrhea, but they disappear as the body gets used with the drugs. The evolution of Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke) is quite positive after the sufferer starts the treatment. However, in more severe cases, the patient can become vulnerable to other disorders or infections. If the infection is located in the brain, the patient can experience sudden death, because of the destruction of the brain tissue or the entire central nervous system.
 The preventive measures which a person can take in order to protect himself from Clornorchis Sinensis (Liver Fluke) are:

• The purification and the boiling of the water you drink when you travel
• If you are in an area where this disorder is quite common, avoid unprepared or undercooked food.