Locally acquired Brachylaima sp. (Digenea: Brachylaimidae) intestinal fluke infection in two South Australian infants.
Eggs of a small intestinal trematode were found in the faeces of two 21-month-old children from the same rural district of South Australia who presented 18 months apart with mild abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Treatment with praziquantel resulted in egg clearance and resolution of gastrointestinal symptoms. A brachylaimid intestinal trematode involving the common house mouse, poultry and introduced European helicid snails is well established in South Australia. Both infants had been seen eating raw snails, and snails from their environment were found to be infected with metacercariae of a brachylaimid trematode.
Butcher
A R
AR
Division of Medical Microbiology and Virology, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide, SA.
Talbot
G A
GA
Norton
R E
RE
Kirk
M D
MD
Cribb
T H
TH
Forsyth
J R
JR
Knight
B
B
Cameron
A S
AS
D000818:Animals; D000980:Antiplatyhelmintic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice / Q000469:parasitology; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D011200:Poultry / Q000469:parasitology; D011223:Praziquantel / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012908:Snails / Q000254:growth & development / Q000469:parasitology; D013021:South Australia; D014200:Trematoda / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*
D000980:Antiplatyhelmintic Agents; D011223:Praziquantel