Human lagochilascariasis: about three cases found in the Federal District, Brazil

Abstract

Three new cases of human infection with Lagochilascaris minor are reported. All the patients were from the State of Pará (Brazil), living in rural areas or close to the forest. They were admitted to hospitals in the Federal District due to the presence of abscesses in the region of the neck, ear, mastoid process and, in two of them, to the involvement also of the central nervous system. Microscopic examination of tissue samples taken from the lesions showed sections of eggs and worms - in different evolutive stages - identified as Lagochilascaris minor. Larvae and adult worms obtained from existing fistulae proved also to be of the same species. The three patients were treated with autihelmintic drugs and surgical excision of the lesions, with good clinical results. In two of them, however, relapsing occurred, suggesting that the drugs do not destroy the worm eggs, in spite of the apparent healing of the lesions.