Fluke Health Dictionary

A type of flattened worm, also known as a trematode, that may infest humans or animals.

The 2 main diseases caused by flukes are liver fluke infestation, which occurs worldwide, and schistosomiasis, a debilitating tropical disease.

Generally refers to helminth in the Class Trematoda or trematodes.

n. any of the parasitic flatworms belonging to the group Trematoda. Adult flukes, which have suckers for attachment to their host, are parasites of humans, occurring in the liver (liver flukes; see Fasciola), lungs (see Paragonimus), gut (see Heterophyes), and blood vessels (blood flukes; see Schistosoma) and often cause serious disease. Eggs, passed out with the host’s stools, hatch into larvae called *miracidia, which penetrate an intermediate snail host. Miracidia give rise asexually to *redia larvae and finally *cercariae in the snail’s tissues. The released cercariae may enter a second intermediate host (such as a fish or crustacean); form a cyst (*metacercaria) on vegetation; or directly penetrate the human skin.