What is alveolar echinococcosis?
Alveolar echinococcosis is a rare parasitic disease caused by the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, which is endemic in many parts of the world. Without timely diagnosis and therapy, the prognosis is dismal, with death the eventual outcome in most cases.
Where is alveolar echinococcosis found?
Where is alveolar echinococcosis (AE) found? AE is found worldwide, mostly in northern latitudes. Cases have been reported in central Europe, Russia, China, Central Asia, Japan, and North America.
Where is echinococcosis most prevalent?
Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is caused by infection with the larval stage of Echinococcus multilocularis. AE is found across the globe and is especially prevalent in the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and North America. The adult tapeworm is normally found in foxes, coyotes, and dogs.
What causes alveolar echinococcosis in humans?
Human alveolar echinococcosis is caused by the larval stage (metacestode) of the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, which usually develops in the liver of infected persons. Slow larval growth results in an asymptomatic phase of several years before diagnosis. When left untreated, the condition is lethal (1).
How is alveolar echinococcosis treated?
Alveolar echinococcosis requires chemotherapy with or without surgery; radical surgery is the preferred approach in suitable cases. Effective treatment involves benzimidazoles administered continuously for at least 2 years and patient monitoring for 10 years or more since recurrence is possible.
What causes echinococcosis?
Parasites – Echinococcosis Cystic echinocccosis (CE), also known as hydatid disease, is caused by infection with the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus, a ~2–7 millimeter long tapeworm found in dogs (definitive host) and sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs (intermediate hosts).
Is Echinococcus multilocularis in the UK?
There have been no known domestically acquired cases of Echinococcus multilocularis in the UK.
What parasite causes alveolar echinococcosis?
Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) disease is caused by infection with the larval stage of Echinococcus multilocularis, a ~1–4 millimeter long tapeworm found in foxes, coyotes, and dogs (definitive hosts).
How common is Echinococcus?
Prevention programmes focus on deworming of dogs, which are the definitive hosts. In the case of cystic echinococcosis preventive measures also include, deworming dogs, slaughterhouse hygiene, and public education. More than 1 million people are affected with echinococcosis at any one time.
What is the difference between cystic echinococcosis and alveolar echinococcosis?
Cystic (CE) and alveolar echininococcosis (AE) vary in their clinical manifestations, course of disease, and prognosis, to the extent that clinicians should look at these two parasitic infections as distinctly different entities. CE causes displacement and pressure atrophy, while AE expands by infiltrative growth.
How can you prevent echinococcosis?
Alveolar echinococcosis can be prevented by avoiding contact with wild animals such as foxes, coyotes, and dogs and their fecal matter and by limiting the interactions between dogs and rodent populations. Do not allow dogs to feed on rodents and other wild animals.
How common is echinococcosis?
In endemic regions, human incidence rates for cystic echinococcosis can reach more than 50 per 100 000 person-years, and prevalence levels as high as 5%–10% may occur in parts of Argentina, Peru, East Africa, Central Asia and China.
Is echinococcosis curable?
Chemotherapy, cyst puncture, and PAIR (percutaneous aspiration, injection of chemicals and reaspiration) have been used to replace surgery as effective treatments for cystic echinococcosis. However, surgery remains the most effective treatment to remove the cyst and can lead to a complete cure.
How common is Echinococcus in the UK?
How common is it? Hydatid disease in humans is rare. Since the year 2000, there have been 19 confirmed cases in Wales and 77 in England with a proportion of these cases being acquired abroad. However, there are still certain ‘hotspots’ of infection in the UK, in particular Wales and the Western Isles of Scotland.
How common are Echinococcus multilocularis?
In North America, Echinococcus multilocularis is found primarily in the north-central region as well as Alaska and Canada. Rare human cases have been reported in Alaska, the province of Manitoba, and Minnesota. Only a single autochthonous case in the United States (Minnesota) has been confirmed. E.
What is the treatment for echinococcosis?
Is Echinococcus British?
How do you test for alveolar echinococcosis?
Ultrasonography imaging is the technique of choice for the diagnosis of both cystic echinococcosis and alveolar echinococcosis in humans. This technique is usually complemented or validated by computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Cysts can be incidentally discovered by radiography.
What is alveolar echinococcosis (AHD)?
AHD is caused by an infection of the flatworm species Echinococcus multilocularis. Although alveolar echinococcosis is rarely diagnosed in humans and is not as widespread as cystic echinococcosis (caused by Echinococcus granulosus ), it is also still a serious disease that has a significantly high fatality rate.
What is the incidence of alveolar echinococcosis in Switzerland?
In Switzerland, where laboratory-diagnosed alveolar echinococcosis was a reportable disease until 1997, the annual incidence ranged from 7.2 to 10.4 (0.10–0.18/100,000) and did not markedly vary during a 36-year period (8). In Austria, an average incidence of 2.5 cases per year corresponded to an incidence of 0.034/100,000 from 1985 to 1999 (9).
What are the treatment options for alveolar echinococcosis?
For alveolar echinococcosis, surgical removal of cysts combined with chemotherapy (using albendazole and/or mebendazole) for up to two years after surgery is the only sure way to completely cure the disease. However, in inoperable cases, chemotherapy by itself can also be used.
Which occupations are affected by alveolar echinococcosis?
aFor example, tailors, hairdressers, cooks, nurses, drivers, teachers, students, and housewives. Geographic Distribution Figure 2gives the residence at the time of diagnosis or at the time of the last medical report for 532 alveolar echinococcosis patients; cases were autochthonous from the countries represented on the map.