Hi Kritts, and thank you for addressing this issue. I do agree that something has to be done. Imports, immigrants (both legal and illegal) world travel, it's all taking it's toll.
I have read an article about the dermatologist in Texas finding 9 confirmed cases of Leishmaniasis, and it was in NorthEast Texas to boot.
I posted some time back also about Chaga's Disease, which originates in Mexico.
I have never tried to hide the fact that I strongly believe that hookworm is involved in my illness, which resembles many of yours tremendously. I have tons of information saved on hookworm.
I just googled Gnathostomiasis and found this on the CDC's website.
Thanks again!
Niecy
CDC - Gnathostomiasis: An Emerging Imported Disease Research Gnathostomiasis: An Emerging Imported Disease David A.J. Moore,* Janice McCroddan,† Paron Dekumyoy,‡ and Peter L. Chiodini†
*Imperial College, London, U.K.; †Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London, U.K.; and ‡Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Suggested citation for this article: Moore DAJ, McCrodden J, DeKumyoy P, Chiodini PL. Gnathostomiasis: an emerging imported disease. Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 2003 Jun [date cited]. Available from: URL: CDC - Gnathostomiasis: An Emerging Imported Disease
As the scope of international travel expands, an increasing number of travelers are coming into contact with helminthic parasites rarely seen outside the tropics. As a result, the occurrence of Gnathostoma spinigerum infection leading to the clinical syndrome gnathostomiasis is increasing. In areas where Gnathostoma is not endemic, few clinicians are familiar with this disease. To highlight this underdiagnosed parasitic infection, we describe a case series of patients with gnathostomiasis who were treated during a 12-month period at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London.
The ease of international travel in the 21st century has resulted in persons from Europe and other western countries traveling to distant areas of the world and returning with an increasing array of parasitic infections rarely seen in more temperate zones. One example is infection with
Gnathostoma spinigerum, which is acquired by eating uncooked food infected with the larval third stage of the helminth; such foods typically include fish, shrimp, crab, crayfish, frog, or chicken. Previously, most disease related to
Gnathostoma was reported from Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand and Japan, because of the dietary habits of those living there. In recent years, however, gnathostomiasis has become an increasing problem in Central and South America, most notably in Mexico (perhaps related to consumption of ceviche) (
1,2). In cats and dogs, which serve as important reservoirs of infection in regions where
Gnathostoma is endemic (
3), the ingested third-stage larva matures into the adult worm in approximately 6 months (
Figure 1). However, because the larva cannot mature into the adult form in humans, the third-stage larva can only wander within the body of the host; clinical symptoms of gnathostomiasis then occur because of the inflammatory reaction provoked by these migrating larvae (
Figure 2). Traditionally the disease has been divided into cutaneous and visceral forms, depending on the site of larval migration and subsequent symptoms. Another form of gnathostomiasis, which is quite rare, includes the dangerous complication of central nervous system involvement (
4). This form is manifested by painful radiculopathy, which can lead to paraplegia, sometimes following an acute (eosinophilic) meningitic illness.
We describe a series of patients in whom
G. spinigerum infection was diagnosed at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London; they were treated over a 12-month period. Four illustrative case histories are described in detail. This case series represents a small proportion of gnathostomiasis patients receiving medical care in the United Kingdom, in whom this uncommon parasitic infection is mostly undiagnosed.