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DOI: 10.3233/JPI-130403
The first autochthonous infection with Dirofilaria repens in a child in Poland
Subject Editor:
Publication History
18 May 2013
20 August 2013
Publication Date:
28 July 2015 (online)
Abstract
Dirofilaria (Nematoda: Onchocercidae) infections are vector-borne parasitic diseases of wild and domestic carnivores, mainly of dogs and cats. In Europe, mainly in Ukraine and the Mediterranean countries, they are caused by D. repens and D. immitis.
The aim of our work is to describe the first autochthonous pediatric case of Dirofilaria repens infection in Poland. Our patient is the first one in the western part of Poland (52°24’N16°56’E). The diagnosis of the parasite’s species and the histopathological assessment of the altered tissue were based on the scrutiny of paraffin slides of the surgically removed subcutaneous nodule. The results were confirmed using PCR method. The origin of the boy’s infection in Greater Poland remains unresolved.
The new trend of spreading D. repens infection in many non-endemic countries cause that dirofilariosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of subcutaneous nodules in children, in the whole Europe, not only in endemic areas.