Abstract
This is a report of an American expatriate child treated for loiasis in the United States. A five year old girl was seen in Minnesota with typical calabar swellings, associated with the loa-loa variety of filariasis. Recently returned from Cameroon, she had been treated for presumed filariasis six months earlier. Other than an eosinophilia of 30 per cent, all initial laboratory findings were negative. These included multiple thick blood smears, urinalysis, staining of urine sediment, and initial antibody liters for filaria antigens. Due to the toxicity of diethylcarbamazine, physicians were reluctant to treat her unless the diagnosis could be confirmed. As a result she underwent skin snip biopsies, radiologic, and ophthalmologic diagnostic efforts; all were negative. The intermittent calabar swellings involving her right extremities and right periorbital area continued. After two months of waiting, she was treated on the basis of the clinical diagnoses with diethylcarbamazine.
She was admitted for treatment, given gradually increasing dosages, and observed carefully for toxicity. She tolerated 21 days of treatment without incident. A second antifilaril antibody titer, which had been drawn two weeks prior to treatment, was positive at 1:1600.
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Olness, K. LOIASIS IN AN EXPATRIATE AMERICAN CHILD: DIAGNOSIS AND TREATHENT DIFFICULTIES. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 331 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00984
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00984