Human Diphyllobothriosis: case report in a non-endemic area of Argentina

CARGNELUTTI D.E.; SALOMÓN M.C.

Mendoza

Congreso; Reunión Científica Conjunta de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2010

Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo

Diphyllobothriosis is an ictic zoonosis caused by consumption of raw or undercooked fish, infected with plerocercoids larvae of Diphyllobothrium species. Only three Diphyllobothrium species have been found in South America: D. latum, D. pacificum y D. dendriticum. From the latter, the D. latum is considered the only etiological agent causing diphyllobothriosis in Argentina and the desease is restristicted to the Andean Patagonia. A 21 year old male patient was assisted at a hospital with abdominal discomfort, skin rash on the neck, and elimination of tapeworm segments in the feces. Diphyllobothriosis was confirmed by examination of morphologic characteristics of the eggs in the patient’s feces. D. latum eggs are 50 to 75 um long and 40 to 50 um wide, they have a thick external membrane, they are yellowish brown, of an oval shape, with an operculum on one extreme and a small knob at the opposite one. He was treated with a single dose of praziquantel. The present brief shows the need of a continuous training for the improvement of the health staff as regards diagnosis and treatment of both endemic (in our work area) as well as non-endemic parasitosis. According to the records of parasite infections documented up to the moment at the sanitary system in our province, this is the first case of diphyllobothriosis reported to the date in Mendoza province.