From: Parasitic diseases as a cause of acute abdominal pain: imaging findings
Disease | Parasite | Epidemiology | Geographic distribution | 1 Hosts/vectors 2 Transmission | Final diagnosis (routinely used method) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
E. granulosus(a) | 2–404/10,000 | High prevalence in Mediterranean regions, southern and central parts of Russia, central Asia, China, Australia, South America and Africa | 1 Definitive hosts (dogs and foxes) Intermediate hosts (sheep and human) 2 Ingestion of eggs | - Imaging based (primarily ultrasound findings) - Serologic assay - Aspiration of cyst content during imaging guided intervention | |
E. multilocularis | 0.2–3400/100,000 | Asia, Central Europe and the northern parts of Europe, and North America | |||
E. oligarthrus | Very rare, 106 human cases | Central and South America | |||
E. vogeli | |||||
F. hepatica(a) | 0.9–6.1% | Worldwide, high prevalence in Europe and America | 1 Intermediate hosts (Freshwater snails) Definitive hosts (herbivorous mammals, including humans) 2 Ingestion of watercress or contaminated water containing encysted larva | - Stool examination - Serologic assay | |
F. gigantica | Tropical areas of Asia and Africa | ||||
Ascaris lumbricoides | 8.8–22.3% | Asia, Africa, and South America | 1 No intermediate host Humans are the only definitive hosts 2 Ingestion of fecally contaminated food | Stool examination | |
Toxocariasis(c) [9] | T. canis(a) | 0.7–15% | Worldwide | 1 Intermediate hosts (rabbit, lamb, fowl) Definitive hosts (domestic dogs and cats). Humans are accidentally infected intermediate hosts 2 Ingestion of eggs from contaminated foods | Serologic assay |
T. cati | |||||
T. saginata | 0.7–4.9% | Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, Eastern Europe, the Philippines, and Latin America | 1 Intermediate hosts (pigs for T. solium, cattle for T. saginata) Definitive hosts (Humans are the only definitive hosts) 2 Ingestion of larvae for taeniasis and ingestion of eggs for cysticercosis | Stool examination | |
T. solium | Worldwide; especially in Mexico, Latin America, West Africa, Russia, India, Manchuria, and Southeast Asia | ||||
T. asiatica | Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand and China | ||||
Amoebiasis(c) [13] | E. histolytica(b) | 5–42% | Worldwide. Endemic in developing parts of Central and South America, Africa, and Asia | 1 Humans are the principal host and reservoir 2 Ingestion of the cyst from fecally contaminated food or water | - Stool examination - The real-time PCR (to identify E. histolytica) |
E. dispar(a) | |||||
E. moshkovskii | |||||
P. falciparum(b) | 5.2–75% | Tropical Africa, South America, South-eastern Asia, and Western Pacific | 1 Vectors (Anopheles mosquitos) 2 Transmitted by infected female mosquitoes’ bites | Microscopic examination of blood | |
P. vivax | |||||
P. ovale | |||||
P. malariae | |||||
P. knowlesi | |||||
Visceral leishmaniasis(c) [16] | Leishmania(a,b)donovani | 200,000–400,000/per year | Northeast of the Indian subcontinent, East Africa | 1 Vectors (Phlebotomus sandflies) 2 Transmitted by infected Phlebotomus sandflies’ bites | - Bone marrow sampling - Serological examination |
Leishmania infantum | Mediterranean region, Latin America | ||||
Dientamoebiasis(c) [17] | Dientamoeba fragilis | 0.4–42% | Worldwide | 1 Humans are the principal host 2 Fecal-oral (hypothetical transmission via Enterobius vermicularis eggs) | Stool examination |
Anisakiasis(c) [18] | Anisakis simple | 3/1,000,000 in Japan | Japan, Korea, Latin America, and Europe (Scandinavia, The Netherlands, Spain, France, Britain). Over 90% of cases are from Japan | 1 Intermediate hosts (different species of crustaceans, fish, or squid) Definitive hosts big sea mammals (whales, dolphins, or seals) Humans are accidentally infected intermediate hosts 2 Ingestion of raw or undercooked fish containing larvae of the anisakis worm | Endoscopy, histopathological examination |