Human ectopic fascioliasis in Australia: first case reports
Prociv, P.; Walker, J.C.; Whitby, M.
Medical Journal of Australia 156(5): 349-351
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-729X PMID: 1588869 Document Number: 388621
Two cases of migratory ectopic Fasciola infection from New South Wales, Australia, are described. The first case was a 46-year-old woman with a swollen cervical lymph node which was found to contain a mature Fasciola hepatica which had released eggs into the surrounding tissues. This is thought to be the first report of lymphatic infection with F. hepatica. The second case was a 34-year-old man with a subcutaneous lesion resembling an infected sebaceous cyst and which contained an immature fluke. Diagnosis in each case was made histologically. In the second case circulating antibodies to F. hepatica were detected by ELISA. In Australia, human hepatic fascioliasis occurs rarely, but infections in aberrant sites, as reported in this article, have not been described previously.