Çiçek, MutalipYalçın, KendalBilden, AlicanÇakır, FatihAkpolat, Nezahat2024-04-242024-04-242023Çiçek, M., Yalçın, K., Bilden, A., Çakır, F. ve Akpolat, N. (2023). Evaluation of the seroprevalence and the demographic and clinical findings of fascioliasis patients in the Dicle River Basin in Turkey: a nine-year experience at a university hospital. European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, 27(22), 10831-10838.1128-3602https://hdl.handle.net/11468/22581OBJECTIVE: Fasciola hepati-ca and Fasciola gigantica are liver trematodes that cause fascioliasis in humans and animals. In Turkey, the medical importance of fascioliasis has been increasing in humans, and it continues to cause great economic loss in the field of an -imal husbandry. Therefore, it is important to di-agnose fascioliasis quickly and reliably. The aim of this study is to show that the ELISA test is a reliable and specific method for diagnosing fas-cioliasis both in the early stage and in the acute stage.PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this study, 640 individuals aged 7-75 years who showed one or more symptoms of fascioliasis, such as abdom-inal pain, fever, weight loss, weakness, fatigue, headache, sweating, nausea, vomiting, allergic urticaria, liver mass, hypereosinophilia, or liver enzyme elevation, were recruited from the Dicle University Research and Application Hospital in southeastern Turkey. Serum and fecal samples were taken from them to investigate if the Fas-ciola hepatica IgG antibody was present in the serum and if eggs were present in the feces. To detect the IgG antibodies, an enzyme-linked im-munosorbent assay (ELISA) kit was used. The stool samples were analyzed for three consec-utive days in mini Parasep fecal parasite con-centrator tubes using the native-lugol and sed-imentation methods. Abdominal ultrasonogra-phy and computed tomography were performed in all the patients.RESULTS: Among the subjects of this study, 90 (14%) were positive for fascioliasis, of whom 85 (94.4%) were adults and 5 (5.5%), children; 73 (81.1%) were women and 17 (18.8%), men; 57 (63.3%) lived in the rural areas and 33 (36.6%), in the city center; 90 (14%) were positive for Fasci-ola hepatica IgG antibodies; (20%) had helminth eggs in their stools; and 85 (94.4%) had a histo-ry of eating watercress.CONCLUSIONS: According to the epidemio-logical classification for fascioliasis by Mas -Co-ma, the Dicle Basin, which is the setting of this study, is indeed a hyperendemic region. Thus, ELISA is a reliable and specific method of diag-nosing fascioliasis, both in the early phase and in the acute phase, when the eggs are no longer seen in the stool.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessFascioliasisSeroprevalenceHumanDicle River Ba-SinArticle27221083110838WOS:001117615400022ScopusIdYok38039011Q2N/A