- The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Source: The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Volume 1, Issue 2, 1 Mar 1952, p. 239 - 249
f Unusual Findings of Filarial Infections in Man
Abstract
Summary
- 1. Four unusual cases of filarial infection are reported from man.
- 2. In one case, believed to be unique, peripheral night's blood of a Palestinian patient revealed post-microfilarial embryos and rhabditoid larvae of a filaria considered to be Wuchereria bancrofti, stages which are characteristically found only in the body of the mosquito intermediate host. It is suggested that micro-filariae which reached the skin from a visceral focus became trapped there and proceeded with their development and metamorphosis.
- 3. In a second case (Colombia) a single fertile female (W. bancrofti?) was recovered at necropsy from a small pulmonary artery.
- 4. In two cases single filariae were obtained from deep cutaneous nodules, one from the upper eyelid of a patient at West Palm Beach, and one from the arm of a patient at Jacksonville, Florida. The former worm was an immature female but study of the anterior end indicated that it belongs to the genus Dirofilaria and is apparently a specimen of D. conjunctivae. The second worm is a mature infertile female, of which only the middle and posterior portions were available for study; it is regarded as probably a specimen of the same species. It is suggested the D. conjunctivae may possibly be D. immitis in an inappropriate host.
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