In March 1981, a 32-year-old male naturalist involved with collecting mammals for study was found to have an unexpected eosinophilia. Serum parasitic screening done at the Centers for Disease Control showed filarial titer by indirect hemagglutination of 1:1,024 and of 1:40 by bentonite flocculation. His travel history disclosed 3 months spent in Cameroon in 1978. He also gave a history of intermittent arm swelling for at least a year. Peripheral blood, collected repeatedly at mid-day and midnight and tested for microfilariae by the Knott technique, was negative. He was begun empirically on diethylcarbamazine, and on day 11 of treatment he removed a worm, identified as a male Loa loa, from his leg. He completed treatment without difficulty and has done well.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.1983.32.738DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

loiasis american
4
american naturalist
4
naturalist march
4
march 1981
4
1981 32-year-old
4
32-year-old male
4
male naturalist
4
naturalist involved
4
involved collecting
4
collecting mammals
4

Similar Publications

Doxycycline plus ivermectin versus ivermectin alone for treatment of patients with onchocerciasis.

Cochrane Database Syst Rev

January 2016

Division of Internal Medicine, John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, 1900 W. Polk Street, Chicago, IL, USA, 60612.

Background: Onchocerciasis, also known as "river blindness," is a parasitic disease that is caused by infection from the filarial nematode (roundworm), Onchocerca volvulus. Nematodes are transmitted from person to person by blackflies of the Simulium genus, which usually breed in fast flowing streams and rivers. The disease is the second leading infectious cause of blindness in endemic areas.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The increased incidence of "allergic" symptomatology and clinical complications seen in non-endemic individuals with loiasis, as compared to natives of endemic areas, is thought to reflect a heightened immune response to filarial antigens. To identify antigens involved in this hyperresponsiveness, a cDNA library constructed from adult female RNA from the related filarial parasite, Onchocerca volvulus, was screened with serum from a North American who acquired loiasis in West Africa. Sequence analysis of one of the identified clones, OvGalBP, revealed significant homology to the vertebrate S-type lectins, a family of thiol-dependent, metal-independent galactoside binding lectins, which includes an IgE-binding protein thought to be involved in IgE regulation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

On the basis of this experience, we recommend the following when faced with possible filariasis in an expatriate from Western Central Africa: (1) Attempt a clinical differentiation between L loa and other filarial infections present in West Africa. It is important to suspect loiasis because this is the only filarial infection that is readily curable; (2) ophthalmologic assessment to diagnose onchocerciasis; (3) if L loa is suspected, thick blood smears should be obtained from midmorning to midafternoon and stained with Giemsa or hematoxylin stains, after a concentration technique is used. Nighttime blood specimens should be obtained if the patient has been in an area where W.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In March 1981, a 32-year-old male naturalist involved with collecting mammals for study was found to have an unexpected eosinophilia. Serum parasitic screening done at the Centers for Disease Control showed filarial titer by indirect hemagglutination of 1:1,024 and of 1:40 by bentonite flocculation. His travel history disclosed 3 months spent in Cameroon in 1978.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!