Angiostrongylosis

Angiostrongylosis General Information

Angiostrongylosis is caused by a genus of a parasite, a nematode, also called roundworm that lives in the lungs of the rats or sometimes, dogs. This parasite belongs to the super family metastrongyloidea. An adult worm usually lives in the arteries of the lungs of rats. The eggs of the females are hatched inside the lungs and then migrate to the pharynx from where the larvae swallowed. They are usually expelled in feces in search of a new host, a molluscan intermediate where the parasite could transform in the last stage, the third of larva that migrates to the brain. Here is where they transform into young adults that become sexually mature after they reach to the venous system and then the pulmonary arteries. There are two species of this parasite: angiostrongylus vasorum and angiostrongylus cantonensis. Between these two, the last one can be transmitted to the human body where it makes major problems by affecting the central nervous system (CNS), leading to many fatal infections. The diseases caused by this lungworm may be known in different parts of the world as eosinophilic meningitis, parastrongylus cantonensis, oreosinophilic meningoencephalitis. This parasite is the main causal agent of intestinal and abdominal Angiostrongylosis.

Angiostrongylosis Symptoms

The exact infection dose with this parasite is not known, but it is surely that is transmitted primarily if someone eats snails, fish, prawns, land crabs and slugs that are not cooked properly. This is way the most infections appear in Taiwan, South Pacific and in the southeast part of the Asia. Abdominal forms of this disease have been reported in Costa Rica, but mainly in children. You must always have in mind that if people handle infected rats and their feces they can not get the disease because the immature form of the worm that lives in them can not affect people. Another important and dangerous source of infection may be the fruits and the vegetables that are contaminated. The clinical signs of the infection are the result of the existence of the larvae in the brain. Angiostrongylosis has a period of incubation between one or four weeks, but it can vary from person to person so in some cases can be longer or even shorter. It is important to know and to remember that this disease can not be transmitted from person to person. Sometimes, Angiostrongylosis is asymptomatic or develops vary few symptoms. We can characterize it by extreme painful headaches, different forms of paresthesias or stiff neck. In a very small percentage of the cases, patients may develop facial paralysis. Also, the manifestations of Angiostrongylosis may last from a couple of days to several months. For the parasites, the human body is the end host of their life cycle.

Angiostrongylosis Treatment

It is very important that if you only think and suspect you have Angiostrongylosis to seek medical care and to address to your health care provider. He or she will perform several tests to find exactly if you are infected with the parasite. Firstly, you will be asked about the symptoms and if you have exposed yourself to slugs and snails. It is very important for him to know if you had been in foreign travels. It will be necessary to perform some routine blood tests and some special ones to help in detecting immune responses to a parasite. You might be also tested for meningitis. You will be monitored for eosinophilis in the central nervous system after the presence of the worms has been confirmed with the help of a microscopic demonstration. For example, the specialists must find out if your cerebral spinal fluid is normal. If not, it will present elevated proteins, pressure and leukocytes. There were cases, even if extremely rare, when the larvae lived in the CSF (cerebrospinal fluid). If Angiostrongylosis developed into the abdomen, the tissues that host the parasites are identified and then removed at surgery. This infection does not always demand treatment because the worm usually dies over time, even if you do not follow a treatment against it. Antibiotics are not needed even when patients are diagnosed with eosinophilic meningitis.

While the immune system of the body is responding to the parasite that is dying, the symptoms may manifest for weeks even months. There is no drug used specifically against Angiostronglosis but it has been discovered its weakness to mebendazole or albendazole. Mebendazole usually is used because it can stop the worms to form and also helps the worms’ glucose depletion. It is indicated to take tablets if you get infected. The efficiancy of this drug depends of helminth strains, pre-existing diarrhea, or degree of the infection. Usually, the treatment is not for the infection itself but is for the symptoms caused by the parasite, for example, corticosteroids or drugs for the headaches (analgesics). Sometimes, some patients may suffer from an acute form of Angiostrongylosis, developing severe meningitis so that they will need some other kinds of therapies. The cerebral spinal fluid must also be carefully removed at frequent periods of time. As physical inactivation occours we must be precise that the larvae do not survive if it is boiled for three to six minutes or if it freezes at -12o for 24 hours. As self-care against Angiostrongylosis we recommend you to do frequent hand washing and to have a good personal hygiene. In many cases, the parasite is transmitted to men if they eat undercooked or raw slugs and snails that are infected with this worm. So, you must never eat snails and slugs if they are not prepared well. Also, all the fruits and vegetables you eat must be carefully washed and if you handle slugs and snail always wear safe gloves and after wash very well your hands. The rate of death is very low because this Angiostrongylosis leads very rarely to death.

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Angiostrongylosis

Angiostrongylosis General Information

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