Gnathostoma spinigerum
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| style="background:#Template:Taxobox colour;" | Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
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| Gnathostoma spinigerum Levinsen, 1889 |
Gnathostoma spinigerum is a parasitic nematode that causes gnathostomiasis in humans, also known as creeping eruption, larva migrans, Yangtze edema, Choko-Fuschu Tua chid and wandering swelling. Gnathostomiasis in animals can be serious, and even fatal. The first described case of gnathostomiasis was in a young tiger that died in the London Zoo in 1835. The larval nematode is acquired by eating raw or undercooked fish and meat.
G. spinigerum has a multi-host life history. The eggs hatch in fresh water and the larvae are eaten by water fleas of the genus Cyclops (genus)|Cyclops. The water fleas are in turn eaten by small fish. Eventually, the larvae end up in the stomachs of carnivores, usually cats and dogs. The larva bores through the stomach wall and migrates around in the host's body for about three months before returning to the stomach and attaching itself in the gastric mucosa. It then takes another six months to mature. The eggs are carried in the host's feces, and if they reach fresh water the cycle begins again. As humans are not a normal host for the larva, they do not mature in humans, but can cause various degrees of damage, depending on where the larve wanders in the body.
Treatment
Antimicrobial Regimen
- Gnathostoma spinigerum
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- 1. Eosinophilic Meningitis
- Preferred regimen: Supportive measures. Anthelminthic therapy might be deleterious by augmenting the inflammation due to the death of the larvae. The use of corticosteroids is generally favored for suppression of the inflammation but there are no clinical trials that prove its efficacy.[1]
- 2. Cutaneous disease:
- Preferred regimen (1): Albendazole 400 mg bid for 21 days[2]
- Preferred regimen (2): Ivermectin 200 mcg/kg once daily for 2 days[3]
- Alternative regimen (1): Albendazole 400 mg daily for 21 days[4]
- Alternative regimen (2): Ivermectin 200 mcg/kg once daily for 1 day[5]
- 1. Eosinophilic Meningitis
See also
References
- ↑ Ramirez-Avila L, Slome S, Schuster FL, Gavali S, Schantz PM, Sejvar J; et al. (2009). "Eosinophilic meningitis due to Angiostrongylus and Gnathostoma species". Clin Infect Dis. 48 (3): 322–7. doi:10.1086/595852. PMID 19123863.
- ↑ "Gnathostomiasis".
- ↑ "Gnathostomiasis".
- ↑ "Gnathostomiasis".
- ↑ "Gnathostomiasis".