What is the life cycle of Paragonimus?

Life Cycle: Time from infection to oviposition is 65 to 90 days. Infections may persist for 20 years in humans. Animals such as pigs, dogs, and a variety of feline species can also harbor P. westermani.

Where does the lung fluke live?

Epidemiology. The lung fluke, Paragonimus westermani, is found throughout eastern Asia and infects a wide variety of mammalian reservoir hosts. Numerous fresh water crustaceans such as crabs and crayfish serve as intermediate hosts and infection occurs when these are eaten raw or lightly cooked.

What is the habitat of Paragonimus westermani?

Paragonimus westermani hatches from its egg as a ciliated miracidium in a freshwater aquatic environment and searches for a snail that becomes its first intermediate host. The miracidium burrows into the soft tissues of the snail, loses its cilia, and develops into a sac-like sporocyst. As a sporocyst, P.

What does Paragonimus look like?

Paragonimus spp. eggs range from 50-125 µm by 35-70 µm. They are yellow-brown, ovoid or elongate, with a thick shell, and often asymmetrical with one end slightly flattened. At the large end, the operculum is clearly visible.

What parasite can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy or delivery?

Toxoplasmosis is most serious for: Pregnant women, who may pass the infection to their babies. When a child is infected before birth, it is called congenital toxoplasmosis.

How is Paragonimus treated?

Treatment. Praziquantel is the drug of choice: adult or pediatric dosage, 25 mg/kg given orally three times per day for 2 consecutive days. For cerebral disease, a short course of corticosteroids may be given with the praziquantel to help reduce the inflammatory response around dying flukes.

How common is Paragonimus?

It infects an estimated 22 million people yearly worldwide. It is particularly common in East Asia. More than 30 species of trematodes (flukes) of the genus Paragonimus have been reported; among the more than 10 species reported to infect humans, and only 8 bringing about infections in humans, the most common is P.

Why was it called Paragonimus?

The name Paragonimus is derived from the combination of two Greek words, “para” (on the side of) and “gonimos” (gonads or genitalia). Several of the species are known as lung flukes. In humans some of the species occur as zoonoses; the term for the condition is paragonimiasis.

What is the treatment for Paragonimus?

Praziquantel is the treatment of choice. Flukes are parasitic flatworms that infect various parts of the body (eg, blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, liver) depending on the species. Although >30 species of Paragonimus exist and 10 have been reported to infect humans, P.