Observation of the Free-living Adults of Strongyloides stercoralis from a Human Stool in Korea / 감염과화학요법

ABSTRACT

A 76-year-old Korean man living in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, visited one University Hospital with dyspnea and abdominal pain. He has been undergoing transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for the past three years for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Abdominal pain developed 10 days ago, and became worse several days prior to coming to the emergency room. Physical examination revealed tenderness over the umbilicus. Eosinophil count was 22% without increase in the number of white blood cells. Stool examination showed adult and larval nematodes, which were subsequently identified as free-living adult worms and rhabditiform larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis. Follow-up stool examination performed six days later demonstrated only rhabditiform larvae of S. stercoralis. This is the first report on the recovery of free- living adult worms from human stool in the world.