Angiostrongyliasis epidemiology and demographics
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Epidemiology
Following World War II, A. cantonensis spread throughout Southeast Asia and Western Pacific Islands including Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Cases were soon reported in the following nations: New Caledonia, the Philippines, Rarotonga, Saipan, Sumatra, Taiwan and Tahiti. In the 1960s even more cases were reported from the region from locations such as: Cambodia, Guam, Hawaii, Java, Thailand, Sarawak, Vietnam and the New Hebrides (Vanuatu).[1]
In 1961, an epidemiological study of eosinophilic meningitis in humans was conducted by Rosen, Laigret, and Bories, who hypothesized that the parasite causing these infections was carried by fish. However Alicata noted that raw fish was consumed by large numbers of people in Hawaii without apparent consequences, and patients presenting with meningitis symptoms had a history of eating raw snails or prawns in the weeks before presenting with symptoms. This observation along with epidemiology and autopsy of infected brains confirmed A. cantonensis infection in humans as the cause of the majority of eosinophilic meningitis cases in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.[2]
Since then, cases of A. cantonensis infestations have appeared in American Samoa, Australia, Hong Kong, Bombay, Fiji, Hawaii, Honshu, India, Kyushu, New Britain, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, Western Samoa and most recently mainland China. Other sporadic occurrences of the parasite in its rat hosts have been reported in Cuba, Egypt, Louisiana, Madagascar, Nigeria, New Orleans and Puerto Rico[1]
In recent years, the parasite has been shown to be proliferating at an alarming rate due to modern food consumption trends and global transportation of food products. Scientists are calling for a more thorough study of the epidemiology of A. cantonensis, stricter food safety policies, and the increase of knowledge on how to properly consume products commonly infested by the parasite.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "EOSINOPHILIC MENINGITIS". Revised 28 February 2006, accessed 1 June 2011.
- ↑ Alicata J. E. (1991). "The Discovery of Angiostrongylus cantonensis as a Cause of Human Eosinophilic Meningitis". Parasitology Today 7(6): 151-153.
- ↑ Lv S., Zhang Y., Steinmann P. &, Zhou X.-N. (2008). "Emerging angiostrongyliasis in mainland China". Emerging Infectious Diseases 14(1): 161-164. HTM.