VISCERAL LARVA MIGRANS AND TROPICAL PYOMYOSITIS: A CASE REPORT

We report a case of tropical pyomyositis in a boy who presented with a severe febrile illness associated with diffuse erythema, and swelling in many areas of the body which revealed on operation extensive necrotic areas of various muscles that required repeated débridement. The patient gave a histor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
Main Authors: Roberto LAMBERTUCCI, Abdunnabi RAYES, José Carlos SERUFO, Daniela Moura TEIXEIRA, Rogério GERSPACHER-LARA, Evaldo NASCIMENTO, Geraldo BRASILEIRO-FILHO, Ana Cristina SILVA
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 1998
Subjects:
Tropical pyomyositis
Visceral larva migrans
Staphylococci
Toxocariasis
Hyperimmunoglobulinemia E
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46651998000600008
https://doaj.org/article/c304ca65593e4a4ab878875da5ae0a78
Description
Summary:We report a case of tropical pyomyositis in a boy who presented with a severe febrile illness associated with diffuse erythema, and swelling in many areas of the body which revealed on operation extensive necrotic areas of various muscles that required repeated débridement. The patient gave a history of contact with dogs, and an ELISA test for Toxocara canis was positive. He also presented eosinophilia and high serum IgE levels. Staphylococcus aureus was the sole bacteria isolated from the muscles affected. We suggest that tropical pyomyositis may be caused by the presence of migrating larvae of this or other parasites in the muscles. The immunologic and structural alterations caused by the larvae, in the presence of concomitant bacteremia, would favour seeding of the bacteria and the development of pyomyositis.

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