April 19, 2024

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Why does the pet dog cause human eye infected with parasites?

Why does the pet dog cause human eye infected with parasites?



Why does the pet dog cause human eye infected with parasites? This case appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine

Recently, Professor Chen Weiqi and Dr. Huang Zijing at the Shantou International Eye Center in China published a case report in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Why does the pet dog cause human eye infected with parasites?

A 34-year-old man came to the hospital for examination because of foreign body sensation and itching in his right eye. He has no known medical history and lives on a farm with his dog.

Slit-lamp microscopic examination showed that there were two worms under the upper eyelid of his right eye. After local anesthesia was given, the worms were removed using fine forceps. These worms were identified as Thelazia callipaeda.

Follow-up one month after treatment, the patient’s eye itching disappeared, no foreign body sensation in the eye, and no recurrence.

Why does the pet dog cause human eye infected with parasites?

Diagnosed as ocular trematodiasis. T. callipaeda is a parasite carried and spread by fruit flies that feed on ocular secretions and deposit the larvae in the eyes of the ultimate host (usually dogs, but occasionally humans).

Conjunctival sucking nematode (Thelazia callipaeda) is a kind of nematode of the sucking nematode genus. It is mainly parasitic in the conjunctival sac and tear duct of animals such as dogs and cats. It can also be parasitic in human eyes, causing conjunctival sucking nematode disease (thelaziasis).

When the intermediate host fruit fly sucks the ocular secretions of the final host, it is sucked into the body of the fly.

After two molting, it develops into an infected larva and enters the fly’s head and mouthparts.

When the flies are sucked into the eyes of other animals, the infected larvae escape from the fly’s mouthparts and invade the eyes of the host, and develop into adults after 15 to 20 days. Adults can live for more than 2 years.

The disease is mostly prevalent in Asia, so it is also called oriental eye worm disease.

Original link:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm2032962

Why does the pet dog cause human eye infected with parasites?

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