Human Gnathostomiasis

Human Gnathostomiasis is an emergent parasitic disease, transmitted by raw or undercooked food of freshwater fish, eels, snakes, and parasitized birds with third-stage larvae of nematodes of the genus Gnathostoma sp. Human is an accidental host and is not compatible with the nematode reproductive life cycle. Clinical presentations can affect skin, eyes, visceral organs, nervous system, lung, heart, and tongue. Diagnostic is performed by clinical evaluation, epidemiological history, or serology by ELISA and Western blot. Histological findings are characterized by a dense eosinophilic infiltrate or by observation of adult worm. There is no international guide, nor consensus for its management, the therapeutic efficacy with albendazole or ivermectin is greater than 90%. Gnathostomiasis should be suspected in a migrant or traveler returning from an endemic area or in patients from non-endemic areas with a history of raw or undercooked meat intake of freshwater fish (ceviche, sushi, sashimi), poultry, pork, which present with cutaneous lesions with intermittent and pruritic migration, edema, and peripheral eosinophilia.