Diagnosis and Treatment
Specific diagnosis depends on finding eggs in the stool. A false record can result when the patient has eaten infected liver and egg passes through the feces. Daily examination during a liver free diet will unmask the false diagnosis. An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test is available as well. ELISA tests are available commercially and can detect anti-hepatica antibodies in serum and milk, but new ones, especially intended for use on fecal samples are being developed. Proteases secreted by F. hepatica also have been used experimentally in immunizing antigens. Several drugs are effective in chemotherapy of fascioliasis, both in humans and in domestic animals. One of these, rafoxanide, apparently acts by uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation in the fluke. The drug of choice in the treatment of fasciolosis is triclabendazole, a member of the benzimidazole family of anthelmintics. The drug works by preventing the polymerization of the molecule tubulin into the cytoskeletal structures, microtubules. However, resistance of F. hepatica to triclabendazole has already been recorded in Australia and Ireland. Artemether has been shown to be effective in a rat model of fascioliasis.
Read more about this topic: Fasciola Hepatica
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