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.