Imagine a beautiful freshwater stream; the soft gurgle of the crystal clear water as it gently flows over round, smooth river rocks; little silvery fish darting here and there. You pull off your shoes and socks and dip your toes in the cool stream. You bend down and sip the refreshing water.
Imagine a cabin near a freshwater lake. You, alone in the calm lake in your boat, your fishing rod cast in the water, reeling in a lovely shimmering fish. You take it to the cabin, gut it, clean it, roast it, and watch the family enjoying your fresh catch.
Two beautiful, peaceful scenarios, right? Wrong! If in a few weeks you find an itchy rash all over. Wrong! If within a short time you start getting severe abdominal pain and nausea.
Why? Along with the lovely memories, you may have picked up some Schistosoma in the freshwater, or perhaps some Clonorchis Sinensis (human liver fluke) from your delicious freshwater fish!
So what happens next? First of all, let us see what these two nasties are.
The Schistosome.
These are parasitic flatworms that live in freshwater in the tropics. The parasites must first infect and mature in freshwater snails, which are their intermediate hosts. These parasites then enter a human body through human skin when it comes into contact with freshwater that contains infected snails. The parasites penetrate our skin, the worms grow inside our blood vessels and produce eggs. Some of these eggs are eliminated by the body through stools and urine. But more than half of them remain in the body, and scar and damage vital organs. The symptoms of Schistomiasis are caused by the body’s reaction to the eggs, and not by the worms.
Clonorchis sinensis.
Clonorchis sinensis or the Human liver Fluke is a parasite that lives in the human liver, mainly in the bile duct and gall bladder, and feeds on bile. The eggs of this parasite float in freshwater until they are swallowed by snails. In the snail’s body, the miracidium hatches from the eggs, develops into a sporocyst, which in turn houses the redia. Once the redia mature, they actively exit the snail’s body, and search for a host fish. They bore their way into the fish’s body and become parasites living in the fish. There they form a protective metacercarial cyst to encapsulate their bodies. Once this fish is eaten by humans, the cyst prevents human gastric acid from digesting the parasites, and the parasites make their home in the human liver. In the liver, they reproduce asexually, producing eggs ever few seconds resulting in a heavy parasitic population.
Praziquantel is a trematodicide prescribed for the oral treatment of schistosome infections and infections due to the human liver fluke. It belongs to a class of drugs known as antihelmintics. It works in two ways. It kills parasites, and it paralyses them to loosen their hold on the walls of our blood vessels so that our body can eliminate them easily and naturally.
The wonderful thing about Praziquantel is that it generally works with just a few doses taken in one single day! However, depending on the magnitude of the infection, and your body’s response to the medicine, the doctor may recommend an additional day or two of doses.
Naturally, it does have some side effects and advocates certain precautions.
Precautions.
Praziquantel must not be used if you are allergic to any of the ingredients in the medicine.
This medication must not be used for parasitic eye infections (ocular cysticercosis).
When used to treat parasitic brain infection (cerebral cysticercosis), it is preferable for the patient to be hospitalised for the days of the treatment.
Do not take alcohol on the days of treatment.
This medication may make you drowsy or dizzy, so do not drive or use heavy machinery, or perform any tasks that require you to be fully alert.
Inform your doctor about any medical conditions and medicines you are using. Praziquantel can react adversely with your current medication.
Do not eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice while using Praziquantel.
Side effects.
The severity of side effects depend upon the size of parasite population within the body.
Side effects can include:
headache
dizziness
tiredness
mild fever
nausea, upset stomach
mild skin rash
There may be other side effects as well. Please check with your doctor for anything that may particularly apply to you.
Schistosomiasis is the second most prevalent tropical disease in the world. It is nice to know that treatment is only a few pills away- Praziquantel, So buy Biltricide (Generic Praziquantel) at cheap price from online pharmacy. After you return from your lovely, exotic get-away, add ‘stool testing’ to your to-do list. Did I just suck out all the fun from your vacation plans? Sorry!
