Echinococcosis

This article is about the disease. For the organism, see Echinococcus.

Echinococcosis
Other namesHydatid disease, hydatidosis, echinococcal disease, hydatid cyst
Echinococcus granulosa life cycle (click to enlarge)
SpecialtyInfectious disease
SymptomsVariable[1]
CausesTapeworm of the Echinococcus type[1]
Diagnostic methodMedical imaging, blood tests[1]
PreventionVaccination of sheep, treating infected dogs[1]
TreatmentConservative, medications, surgery[1][2]
MedicationAlbendazole[1]
Frequency1.4 million (cystic form, 2015)[3]
Deaths1,200 (cystic form, 2015)[4]

Echinococcosis is a parasitic disease caused by tapeworms of the Echinococcus type.[1] The two main types of the disease are cystic echinococcosis and alveolar echinococcosis.[1] Less common forms include polycystic echinococcosis and unicystic echinococcosis.[1]

The disease often starts without symptoms and this may last for years.[1] The symptoms and signs that occur depend on the cyst's location and size.[1] Alveolar disease usually begins in the liver, but can spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs or brain.[1] When the liver is affected, the patient may experience abdominal pain, weight loss, along with yellow-toned skin discoloration from developed jaundice.[1] Lung disease may cause pain in the chest, shortness of breath, and coughing.[1]

The infection is spread when food or water that contains the eggs of the parasite is ingested or by close contact with an infected animal.[1] The eggs are released in the stool of meat-eating animals that are infected by the parasite.[5] Commonly infected animals include dogs, foxes, and wolves.[5] For these animals to become infected they must eat the organs of an animal that contains the cysts such as sheep or rodents.[5] The type of disease that occurs in human patients depends on the type of Echinococcus causing the infection.[1] Diagnosis is usually by ultrasound though computer tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may also be used.[1] Blood tests looking for antibodies against the parasite may be helpful as may biopsy.[1]

Prevention of cystic disease is by treating dogs that may carry the disease and vaccination of sheep.[1] Treatment is often difficult.[1] The cystic disease may be drained through the skin, followed by medication.[1] Sometimes this type of disease is just watched.[2] The alveolar form often requires surgical intervention, followed by medications.[1] The medication used is albendazole, which may be needed for years.[1][2] The alveolar disease may result in death.[1]

The disease occurs in most areas of the world and currently affects about one million people.[1] In some areas of South America, Africa, and Asia, up to 10% of the certain populations are affected.[1] In 2015, the cystic form caused about 1,200 deaths; down from 2,000 in 1990.[4][6] The economic cost of the disease is estimated to be around US$3 billion a year.[1] It is classified as a neglected tropical disease (NTD) and belongs to the group of diseases known as helminthiases (worm infections).[7] It can affect other animals such as pigs, cows and horses.[1]

Terminology used in this field is crucial, since echinococcosis requires the involvement of specialists from nearly all disciplines. In 2020, an international effort of scientists, from 16 countries, led to a detailed consensus on terms to be used or rejected for the genetics, epidemiology, biology, immunology, and clinical aspects of echinococcosis.[8]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab "Echinococcosis Fact sheet N°377". World Health Organization. March 2014. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Echinococcosis Treatment Information". CDC. 29 November 2013. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  3. ^ "Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015". Lancet. 388 (10053): 1545–1602. 8 October 2016. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31678-6. PMC 5055577. PMID 27733282.
  4. ^ a b "Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015". Lancet. 388 (10053): 1459–1544. 8 October 2016. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)31012-1. PMC 5388903. PMID 27733281.
  5. ^ a b c "Echinococcosis [Echinococcus granulosus] [Echinococcus multilocularis] [Echinococcus oligarthrus] [Echinococcus vogeli]". CDC. 29 November 2013. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  6. ^ Lozano R (15 December 2012). "Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010". Lancet. 380 (9859): 2095–128. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61728-0. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30050819. PMC 10790329. PMID 23245604. S2CID 1541253. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Neglected Tropical Diseases". cdc.gov. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  8. ^ Vuitton DA, McManus DP, Rogan MT, Romig T, Gottstein B, Naidich A, Tuxun T, Wen H, Menezes da Silva A, Vuitton DA, McManus DP, Romig T, Rogan MR, Gottstein B, Menezes da Silva A, Wen H, Naidich A, Tuxun T, Avcioglu A, Boufana B, Budke C, Casulli A, Güven E, Hillenbrand A, Jalousian F, Jemli MH, Knapp J, Laatamna A, Lahmar S, Naidich A, Rogan MT, Sadjjadi SM, Schmidberger J, Amri M, Bellanger AP, Benazzouz S, Brehm K, Hillenbrand A, Jalousian F, Kachani M, Labsi M, Masala G, Menezes da Silva A, Sadjjadi Seyed M, Soufli I, Touil-Boukoffa C, Wang J, Zeyhle E, Aji T, Akhan O, Bresson-Hadni S, Dziri C, Gräter T, Grüner B, Haïf A, Hillenbrand A, Koch S, Rogan MT, Tamarozzi F, Tuxun T, Giraudoux P, Torgerson P, Vizcaychipi K, Xiao N, Altintas N, Lin R, Millon L, Zhang W, Achour K, Fan H, Junghanss T, Mantion GA (2020). "International consensus on terminology to be used in the field of echinococcoses". Parasite. 27: 41. doi:10.1051/parasite/2020024. ISSN 1776-1042. PMC 7273836. PMID 32500855. Open access icon