ABSTRACT
To investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of emerging infectious gnathostomiasis in China,a retrospective analysis was performed on 16 cases of gnathostomiasis found during 2009-2011.Patients consisted of 11 women and 5 men.The median age was 48 years (ranging from 27 to 68years).Eleven out of 16 patients (68.8％) had history of ingesting raw or undercooked freshwater fish.The main manifestation of patients was cutaneous form.Clinical symptoms included migratory swelling,creeping eruption and skin rash.Among them,43.8％ (7/16) of patients presented eosinophilia.The results of serological tests showed all patients were Gnathostoma-specific IgG positive by dot immunogold fitration assay (DIGFA) and 5 cases (31.2 ％) were positive by immunoblot for detection of specific 24-kDa protein band reaction.The median time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis was 12 months with a range of 2 weeks to 3 years.A total of 11 patients were treated with albendazole and/or ivermectin.Ten patients did not relapse post treatment.During 2009-2011,the number of patients with gnathostomiasis significantly increased due to consumption of raw or under-cooked loaches and swamp eels.Serological test was a necessary tool to support clinical diagnosis while gnathostomiasis commonly presented complex symptoms.Ivermectin and albendazole were effective to treat gnathostomiasis.