LOCALLY ACQUIRED BRACHYLAIMA SP (DIGENEA, BRACHYLAIMIDAE) INTESTINAL FLUKE INFECTION IN 2 SOUTH-AUSTRALIAN INFANTS

Eggs of a small intestinal trematode were found in the faeces of two 2 1-month-old children from the same rural district of South Australia w ho presented 18 months apart with mild abdominal pain and diarrhoea. T reatment with praziquantel resulted in egg clearance and resolution of gastrointestinal symptoms. A brachylaimid intestinal trematode involv ing the common house mouse, poultry and introduced European helicid sn ails is well established in South Australia. Both infants had been see n eating raw snails, and snails from their environment were found to b e infected with metacercariae of a brachylaimid trematode.