Question
What is the diagnosis?
- Cutaneous larva migrans
- Dirofilariasis
- Gnathostomiasis
- Paragonimiasis
- Toxocariasis
Correct Answer : Cutaneous larva migrans
Explanation
The serpiginous, erythematous raised tracts with bulla formation are clinically diagnostic of cutaneous larva migrans.
This is the infection of the skin with the hookworm parasite of dogs and cats, Ancylostoma braziliense.
Eggs in animal faeces hatch and mature in the soil and are able to invade human skin. The larva cannot complete it's lifecycle in a human host and it meanders in the skin before dieing.
The feet are most often affected by:
a serpiginous red itchy track
possible secondary bacterial infection
The lesion usually resolves after a few months.
treatment :
the larvae eventually die.
treatment with liquid nitrogen at the area just ahead of the advancing linear lesion, or treatment with thiabendazole, will result in a speedier resolution of this infestation.
Bacterial superinfection requires antibiotics.
