Visceral larva migrans: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:57, 3 August 2020

Background

Organism	Host	Notes
Toxocara canis	canines	most common cause in humans
Toxocara cati	felines
Baylisascaris procyonis	raccoons

Humans are dead-end hosts

Clinical Manifestations

Most frequently in young children (who are effective at getting dirt into their mouths)
- Mean age 2 to 4 years
Most infection is asymptomatic
Severe symptoms eosinophilia, fever, and hepatomegaly
Other common symptoms include cough, wheezing
Rarely, urticaria and nodules
Very rarely, ocular involvement

Different Diagnosis

Other parasites
- Baylisascaris procyonis
- Acute schistosomiasis
- Fasciola hepatica, Clonorchis sinensis, and Opisthorchis viverrini
- Ascaris lumbricoides liver abscess
- Echinococcus
- Capillaria hepatica
Other diseases

Diagnosis

Mostly clinical ± serology
May be able to see larvae on tissue histopathology

Management

For mild or moderate disease, clinical monitoring is all that is needed as it self-resolves in most cases
For severe or life-threatening disease, can try treating with albendazole, mebendazole, diethylcarbamazine
- Adjunctive corticosteroids are used due to intense inflammatory reaction to dying parasites

Prevention

Do not eat dog, cat, or raccoon poop
Keep sandboxes closed when not in use, and keep pets away from them
Test and treat dogs regularly

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== Background ==
+==Background==
 {| class="wikitable"
 !Organism
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 *Humans are dead-end hosts
-== Clinical Manifestations ==
+==Clinical Manifestations==
-* Most frequently in young children (who are effective at getting dirt into their mouths)
+*Most frequently in young children (who are effective at getting dirt into their mouths)
-** Mean age 2 to 4 years
+**Mean age 2 to 4 years
-* Most infection is asymptomatic
+*Most infection is asymptomatic
-* Severe symptoms [[Causes::eosinophilia]], [[Causes::fever]], and [[Causes::hepatomegaly]]
+*Severe symptoms [[Causes::eosinophilia]], [[Causes::fever]], and [[Causes::hepatomegaly]]
-* Other common symptoms include [[Causes::cough]], [[Causes::wheezing]]
+*Other common symptoms include [[Causes::cough]], [[Causes::wheezing]]
-* Rarely, urticaria and nodules
+*Rarely, urticaria and nodules
-* Very rarely, ocular involvement
+*Very rarely, ocular involvement
+== Different Diagnosis ==
+* Other parasites
+** [[Baylisascaris procyonis]]
+** [[Schistosomiasis|Acute schistosomiasis]]
+** [[Fasciola hepatica]], [[Clonorchis sinensis]], and [[Opisthorchis viverrini]]
+** [[Ascaris lumbricoides]] liver abscess
+** [[Echinococcus]]
+** [[Capillaria hepatica]]
+* Other diseases
+== Diagnosis ==
+* Mostly clinical ± serology
+* May be able to see larvae on tissue histopathology
+== Management ==
+* For mild or moderate disease, clinical monitoring is all that is needed as it self-resolves in most cases
+* For severe or life-threatening disease, can try treating with [[Is treated by::albendazole]], [[Is treated by::mebendazole]], [[Is treated by::diethylcarbamazine]]
+** Adjunctive corticosteroids are used due to intense inflammatory reaction to dying parasites
+== Prevention ==
+* Do not eat dog, cat, or raccoon poop
+* Keep sandboxes closed when not in use, and keep pets away from them
+* Test and treat dogs regularly
 [[Category:Infectious diseases]]