title: Stictodora lari (Digenea: Heterophyidae): the discovery of the first human infections.
abstract: Stictodora lari Yamaguti, 1939 (Digenea: Heterophyidae) was originally reported as an avian intestinal parasite and is here reported in humans. The patients were adults, aged 46-69 (2 men and 4 women), who resided in coastal villages in Sachon-gun, Kyongsangnam-do, or Shinan-gun, Chollanam-do. in the Republic of Korea. The worms were recovered after praziquantel treatment and purgation with magnesium salts. A total of 15 S. lari specimens (1-10 per individual) was collected, together with 5 other species of intestinal flukes. The flukes were morphologically characterized by a small body size (0.70-0.86 mm long and 0.27-0.36 mm wide), a ventrogenital sac, and a gonotyl armed with 70-80 spines in the form of a comma or reversed comma lying along their lateral margin. The patients had eaten the raw flesh of mullets and gobies that had been caught in an estuary near their villages. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first record of a human S. lari infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Korea. cjy@plaza.snu.ac.kr
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: E T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Y K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Guk
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population; D014200:Trematoda / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification; D014201:Trematode Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology*