Real-time PCR for Loa loa was performed at the NIAID Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, Bethesda, MD, using this website a recently described L loa-specific assay.1 The PCR assay is highly specific for L loa and fails to amplify DNA from Onchocerca volvulus, Mansonella perstans, Wuchereria bancrofti,

and Brugia malayi. It can detect as little as 0.1 pg of L loa genomic DNA. Two duplicate reactions were performed, and both samples were positive. The patient was treated with single-dose diethylcarbamazine (DEC; 6 mg/kg) due to his preference for single dose therapy over the traditional longer course of therapy. We were able to prescribe a full dose on the first day of treatment, as the patient had no detectable microfilaremia. He has been asymptomatic for nearly a year since the removal of the worm, and he had no post-treatment reactions to the single-dose DEC. L loa, also known as the African eye worm, is a filarial parasite that is transmitted through the bite of the deerfly, Chrysops; it is endemic to Central and West Africa. After a bite from an infected fly, larvae penetrate the skin of the host and develop into adult worms over a period of 4–6 months.2 Female worms produce thousands of microfilariae that circulate in the blood with a diurnal periodicity.2 The life cycle is completed when the microfilaria are taken up by the day-biting female Chrysops. Expatriates infected with this organism

commonly PLX-4720 research buy develop pruritis, creeping dermatitis, and transient migratory facial and extremity angioedema known as Calabar swellings (named after the coastal Nigerian town where they were first recorded).3 These result from the migration of the worm through subcutaneous tissues. Other pathological manifestations

include subconjunctival migration of worms, eosinophilia, elevated IgE, and, to a lesser extent, nephropathy, cardiomyopathy, retinopathy, arthritis, peripheral neuropathy, and lymphadenitis.4–7 The disease is a relatively rare entity in travelers in large part because of the restricted geographic niche L loa occupies and the oft-needed long-term exposure for acquisition.5,6 Most travel physicians do not consider short stays—even in endemic areas—to be high risk. Travelers that do become infected present with a greater predominance of selleck kinase inhibitor allergic symptoms, frequently recurring episodes of angioedema, and striking peripheral eosinophilia. DEC is the treatment of choice for patients with loiasis; other options include albendazole and ivermectin. One must be cautious, however, in patients with high microfilarial burdens; treatment can precipitate encephalitis. Plasmapheresis and/or steroids are often considered in such cases.7 The patient’s presentation is notable for several reasons. First, the length of time between his probable inoculation and his becoming clinically symptomatic was ∼20 years. (Much of the literature cites a maximum lifespan of around 15 y.