Liver parasites: A global endemic and journey from infestation to intervention

Table 1 Clinical features of cestodes

Parasite	Ref.	Global distribution	Hosts	Symptoms and complications	Diagnosis	Treatment
Echinococcus granulosus	Rinaldi et al[7]	Eurasia, Africa, Australia, South America	Dogs, herbivores, humans	Abdominal pain, hepatic cysts commonly, rarely pulmonary cysts	US, CT scan, ELISA and indirect hemagglutination, newer cystic fluid lipoprotein antigen	Albendazole 15 mg/kg/day in 2 divided doses, praziquantel once/week 40 mg/kg surgery, puncture, aspiration, instillation, reaspiration
Echinococcus multilocularis	Nunnari et al[6]	North America, Asia	Carnivores	Early symptoms of fatigue, weight loss, followed by portal hypertension, ascites splenomegaly	US, CT, IHA, ELISA, raised levels of IgG1 and IgG4 antibodies	Surgical resection, albendazole 15 mg/kg/day and mebendazole 40 mg/kg/day

CT: Computed tomography; ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; IHA: Indirect hemagglutination; US: Ultrasound.