Schistosomal Dermatitis – Symptoms and Treatment

Syn .: Schistosoma dermatitis, swimmer’s itch, swimmer’s itch, bilharziella, clam digger’s itch, cercarial dermatitis, schistosomiasis, bilharzia, snail fever.

Def .: Dermatitis caused by cercaria.

Epid .: The disease syndrome, also known as swimmer’s pruritus, occurs mainly in both American continents, occasionally all over the world.

Etiol .: About 20 species of the genus Schistosomatidae whose reservoirs are birds and aquatic mammals, snails are involved in the development cycle.

Pat. Slowly living in water, cercarias penetrate the skin, causing local inflammation.

Loc .: Changes can occur all over the body depending on what part of the skin has been in contact with the water.

Clinical: After a bath, a blotchy rash appears during the penetration of cercaria. After a few hours, itchy lumps appear on the erythematous basis. Then there is erythema and swelling. Persistent, severe itching may last up to 10 days.

DR: Migrating cutaneous larvae syndrome, burns, urticaria.

Healing: Praziquantel 20 mg / kg once.

Year: Good.

Lit.: [1] Davis A.: Schistosomiasis. [W:] G.C. Cook, A.I. Zumla: Manson’s tropical diseases. Saunders, 2005, 1431- 470. [2] GIDEON (Globar Infections Disease and Epidemiology Network) „Cercarial dermatitis” 2007.

Source: A. Kaszuba, Z. Adamski: “Lexicon of dermatology”; XNUMXst edition, Czelej Publishing House

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