ABSTRACT
Dirofilaria repens and Dirofilaria immitis are the most common filarial species affecting humans in Europe. Dirofilaria repens causes subcutaneous or ocular infection, whereas D. immitis is responsible mainly for the pulmonary form. In this report, we present the first human case of periorbital dirofilariasis in the Czech Republic. A 58-year-old woman suffered from an eyelid oedema, redness and pain in the left eye. After excising the parasite from her eyelid, all clinical symptoms disappeared. Based on the morphology and cytochrome oxidase I sequencing, the parasite was identified as D. repens. Histology revealed that the excised worm was female with absent microfilariae in uteri. With respect to the length of the incubation period and the sequence identity with a known Czech isolate, we concluded that D. repens was most likely of autochthonous origin.
Subject(s)
Dirofilaria repens/isolation & purification , Dirofilariasis/parasitology , Eye Infections, Parasitic/parasitology , Animals , Cyclooxygenase 1/genetics , Czech Republic , Dirofilaria repens/cytology , Dirofilaria repens/genetics , Dirofilariasis/pathology , Eye Infections, Parasitic/pathology , Female , Helminth Proteins/genetics , Humans , Microfilariae/isolation & purification , Middle AgedSubject(s)
Diagnosis, Differential , Dirofilariasis/diagnosis , Aged, 80 and over , Animals , Dirofilaria immitis/cytology , Dirofilaria immitis/isolation & purification , Dirofilaria repens/cytology , Dirofilaria repens/isolation & purification , Dirofilariasis/pathology , Female , Humans , Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis , Lung Neoplasms/pathology , Microfilariae/cytology , Microfilariae/isolation & purification , Staining and Labeling/methodsABSTRACT
A descriptive cross-sectional survey of Dirofilaria infections in dogs was carried out from January to March 2015 in Morogoro municipality, Tanzania. One hundred and fifty two blood samples were collected from healthy dogs aged more than 6 months living in different areas of Morogoro, and analyzed by modified Knott's technique for circulating microfilariae. Microfilaraemic samples were further analyzed by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR products were sequenced for molecular identification. Microfilariae were detected by microscopy in 9 samples (5.92%), of which 6 tested positive by PCR. The 5.8S-internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2)-28S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences generated were 97% identical to Dirofilaria immitis and 86% to 90% identical to D. repens, confirming the presence of D. immitis in Tanzania and showing the presence of D. repens, not previously observed.
Subject(s)
Dirofilaria immitis/physiology , Dirofilaria repens/physiology , Dirofilariasis/parasitology , Dog Diseases/parasitology , Animals , Cross-Sectional Studies , DNA, Helminth/genetics , DNA, Ribosomal/genetics , DNA, Ribosomal Spacer/genetics , Dirofilaria immitis/cytology , Dirofilaria immitis/genetics , Dirofilaria immitis/isolation & purification , Dirofilaria repens/cytology , Dirofilaria repens/genetics , Dirofilaria repens/isolation & purification , Dirofilariasis/epidemiology , Dog Diseases/epidemiology , Dogs , Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary , Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid , Tanzania/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Human infections caused by Dirofilaria repens, a cosmopolitan zoonotic parasitosis endemic in Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia still is an underdiagnosed infection due to parasite identification difficulties. Here, we report the first human case of subcutaneous dirofilariasis by D. repens diagnosed in Portugal. This was probably an imported case from India, as judged by epidemiological and clinical data. With this presentation we aim to alert clinicians for the emergence of vector-borne zoonoses associated with global warming and international travel. This case showed that differential diagnosis of D. repens in subcutaneous nodules is needed, in order to avoid further complications.
