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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · J Lab Physicians 2023; 15(01): 139-141
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1748830
Case Report

Heavy Load of Intestinal Fluke in a Four-Year-Old Child with Severe Acute Malnutrition: A Case Report

Sangeeta Deka
1   Department of Microbiology, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College & Hospital (FAAMCH), Barpeta, Assam, India
,
Deepjyoti Kalita 
2   Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, Virbhadra Road, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
,
Naba Kumar Hazarika
3   Department of Microbiology, Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH), Guwahati, Assam, India
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Abstract

Fasciolopsiasis, a food-borne intestinal parasitosis, occurs focally, and remains a significant public health problem in endemic areas. However, due to the wide spectrum of clinical presentation and unclear diagnosis or even misdiagnosis, it often goes unreported. The correlation between trematode infection and malnutrition is also often debated. We report a case of heavy infection of Fasciolopsis buski in a 4-year-old girl with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). The patient presented with a passage of many adult worms per stool following the consumption of some herbal concoction. A wet mount of the stool revealed ova of Fasciolopsis buski. She was treated successfully with praziquantel and food supplements. It raises the possibility of unidentified cases in this region and necessitates more extensive studies in the targeted population. This will also help raise awareness of fasciolopsiasis among clinicians, especially in vulnerable populations such as malnourished children.

Keywords

trematode infections - Fasciolopsis buski - malnutrition - children

Author's Contributions

S.D. contributed to conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, software, validation, visualization, writing: original draft. D.K. contributed to conceptualization, project administration, investigation, data curation, visualization, software, review and editing, supervision. N.K.H. contributed to resources, supervision, investigation, visualization, review and editing, visualization.




Publication History

Article published online:
26 July 2022

© 2022. The Indian Association of Laboratory Physicians. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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