Nanophyetus Salmincola

Nanophyetus Salmincola General Information

Nanophyetus Salmincola is the name of a parasitic flatworm – troglotrematoid trematodes, or flukes. This parasite can be encountered in North America, and is related to the Russian parasite of the same family known under the name of Nanophyetus Schikhobalowi.

This parasite causes the disease Nanophyetiasis in humans when ingested. Commonly referred to as the “fish flu”, the disease is indeed typically spread through infected fish – most of the patients suffering from this disease recall eating fish before the symptoms started to appear. It has been noted that this disease is also coupled with the appearance of another disease in dogs – neorickettsia helminthocea, caused by infection with a bacteria carried by the Nanophyetus Salmincola and released in the host organism. This disease has a mortality rate of up to 80% in untreated cases, but there is no information indicating that the disease can be transmitted to humans.

This disease was first recorded at the middle of the 19th century. It has been studied in dogs, as it was observed that many of the animals that were kept on a diet of raw salmon had a very high mortality rate, and this led to the discovery of the worm in the fish. In humans, the first recording of the disease was made in 1931 and it became the object of a detailed study made by Russian scientists starting in 1959. Currently, this disease is very rare in North America; however the endemic area in Russia seems to be rather large and continues to extend, and the infection rate is assumed to be of over 80% within the endemic area.

Nanophyetus Salmincola Symptoms

The symptoms associated with a Nanophyetus Salmincola infection are not always severe enough to allow the patient to distinguish the infection from a passing digestive problem. In some cases, the infection can also be altogether asymptomatic. In such cases, the disease can pass along unnoticed for very large periods of time.

Generally, the patient may experience mild to severe episodes of gastrointestinal disorders when contracting the Nanophyetus Salmincola infection, typically after ingestion of raw, smoked or undercooked fish, as well as unexplainable eosinophilia. The patient may present an increased frequency of the bowel movement, and may experience abdominal discomfort coupled with diarrhea and flatulence. Nausea and vomiting may also occur, and in some patients the infection may also cause fatigue and weight loss. It is possible that the patient may experience recurrent diarrhea and weight loss for prolonged periods, of up to a few months, especially in cases where the infection is unnoticed and generally in untreated cases.

This is not a complete list of all the possible signs and symptoms that are associated with an infection with Nanophyetus Salmincola. In other words, if you are suffering from this illness, it is possible that you may experience a set of reactions that have not been mentioned here, especially since every organism tends to respond to this illness in a specific (and sometimes unique) way. It is strongly advised that all patients who start experiencing any unusual, uncommon and / or disturbing symptoms to contact their personal doctor at once or to go to the nearest hospital. Your personal health care provider, your local pharmacist or a nurse will be able to provide you with further information regarding this matter.

Nanophyetus Salmincola Treatment

In order to diagnose a case of Nanophyetus Salmincola infection, the examining health care specialist will try to detect the worm eggs in the patient’s stool. This can be done through wet mounts, in formalin-ethyl acetate concentration and also gomori’s or wheatly modified trichrome, staining microscope studies of the samples. Although it may prove to be hard to distinguish the actual worm from other species, this can be done by observing its particular characteristics – for example, by examining the uterus, the Nanophyetus Salmincola only has a few loops and it only stores less than half a dozen eggs at a time.

Once the Nanophyetiasis has been diagnosed, the examining health care specialist may prescribe a treatment appropriate to your age, medical history and general health condition. There are several therapies available for Nanophyetus Salmincola infections, and the prescribing health care professional will assist you in determining which one of these treatment plans is best suited for your condition. Also, the prescribing physician may require additional testing to check for any signs of allergy to these drugs or any of their components, in order to ensure that no complications will occur as a side effect to the treatment. These drugs may also cause other side effects in the patient; it is advised that you ask your examining health care specialist, a pharmacist or a nurse regarding the side effects of a particular medicine, and for more information regarding the procedures that are typically employed when such side effects occur.

General practice has shown that antihelminth drugs have a strong effect in curing patients infected with Nanophyetus Salmincola. Typically, the treatment will consist of Bothionol in 2 doses, or alternatively Niclosamide in 3 doses, as the more popular Mebendazole has been proved to be completely ineffective in controlling the symptoms of Nanophyetiasis and in eradicating the parasite from the patient’s body. Also, a very common drug that was used to treat this disease, namely Praziquantel, was also proven to be ineffective by a study performed in 1989 by Fritsche and others. Once the patient begins the treatment, the symptoms typically recede over the course of a few days and the worm eggs no longer appear in the feces.

As the Nanophyetus Salmincola spreads in human hosts through consumption of infected fish, preventive measures would consist of ensuring that the fish is properly cooked before ingestion. Unfortunately there are no means of detecting infection in fish prior to commercializing, as the only possible way to detect the worm in fish would be to dissect and perform a microscope examination of the fish using candling. Unfortunately, even this procedure will only allow the detection of heavily infected fish, other specimens with fewer worms not being detected by this method. Avoiding consumption of raw smoked or undercooked fish remains to this point the best preventive measure that can be employed.