n. a genus of small parasitic *flukes occurring in Egypt and the Far East. Adult flukes of the species H. heterophyes live in the small intestine of humans and other fish-eating animals; in humans the flukes can produce serious symptoms (see heterophyiasis). The fluke has two intermediate hosts, a snail and a mullet fish.
n. any of the parasitic flatworms belonging to the group Trematoda. Adult flukes, which have suckers for attachment to their host, are parasites of humans, occurring in the liver (liver flukes; see Fasciola), lungs (see Paragonimus), gut (see Heterophyes), and blood vessels (blood flukes; see Schistosoma) and often cause serious disease. Eggs, passed out with the host’s stools, hatch into larvae called *miracidia, which penetrate an intermediate snail host. Miracidia give rise asexually to *redia larvae and finally *cercariae in the snail’s tissues. The released cercariae may enter a second intermediate host (such as a fish or crustacean); form a cyst (*metacercaria) on vegetation; or directly penetrate the human skin.... fluke
n. an infestation of the small intestine with the parasitic fluke *Heterophyes heterophyes. Humans become infected on eating raw or salted fish that contains the larval stage of the fluke. The presence of adult flukes may provoke symptoms of abdominal pain and diarrhoea; if the eggs reach the brain, spinal cord, and heart (via the bloodstream) they produce serious lesions. Tetrachloroethylene may be used in treatment of the infection.... heterophyiasis
Health Encyclopedia