What Are Liver Flukes: Is it dangerous? Treatment and How to Spot Symptoms

Liver Flukes is one of the parasites to watch out for. Because, if infected, the parasite can cause liver and bile duct diseases. Liver worm infection in humans usually occurs after consuming certain foods that have been contaminated with worms and are not cooked until cooked. Find out more about What Are Liver Flukes: Is it dangerous? Treatment and How to Spot Symptoms.

What Are Liver Flukes

Liver worms are parasitic worms that can infect humans. This usually happens after eating contaminated freshwater, raw or semi-cooked watercress. After the liver worms are ingested, they travel from the intestines to the bile ducts in the liver. They then lived and grew up there.

Types of Liver Flukes

There are two types of liver worms that can cause disease in humans, namely:

Opisthorchiidae

There are two species of opisthorchiidae worms that can cause liver worm infection, namely Clonorchis Sinensis and Opisthorchis viverrini. Both species of liver worms are most commonly found in seafood, such as fish, crabs, and lobsters. You can become infected with opisthorchiidae when consuming seafood that has been contaminated by worm larvae that are not cooked until cooked.

This type of liver worm can infect human organs of the liver, gallbladder, and bile ducts. If left untreated, the infection can last up to 25-30 years.

Fasciolidae

It is the most common type of liver worm infecting the human body. Fasciolidae worms can be found on almost all continents, except Antarctica. You can get infected with fasciolidae liver worms if you consume watercress or other aquatic plants that have been contaminated with worm larvae from animal feces.

How to Spot Symptoms of Liver Flukes?

A person who has a liver worm infection generally does not feel any symptoms. Symptoms can appear when the infection is long-standing and cause serious illness.

The symptoms that may appear in the short term are:

• Fever
• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal pain
• Hives
• Decreased appetite to weight loss

Over time, adult liver worms blocking the bile ducts can cause yellow skin and whites, the appearance of scarring, and bacterial infections of the bile ducts. These worms are even capable of infecting the intestinal wall, lungs, skin, or throat.

How does Liver Flukes get into the human body?

Liver worms enter the human body through contaminated raw or semi-cooked water and food. Foods that risk carrying liver worms when not cooked properly are generally seafood, such as shrimp, shellfish, fish, and crab.

Once the liver worm enters the body, it will move from the intestines to the bile ducts in the liver, where these parasites live and grow.

Although rare, liver worm infections can cause rare complications that harm the sufferer, such as recurrent infections of the bile system, the formation of gallstones, and bile duct cancer.