A 76-Year-Old Woman Returning From Venezuela With Unusual Eruptions on the Feet

This is a typical case of tungiasis, a parasitic disease caused by the sand flea Tunga penetrans. The flea favors warm, dry environments, and tungiasis is prevalent in rural Central and South America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. The gravid female sand flea penetrates mammalian skin headfir...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inClinical infectious diseases Vol. 66; no. 12; pp. 1973 - 1974
Main Authors Kosumi, Hideyuki, Iwata, Hiroaki, Miyazawa, Hajime, Tsujiwaki, Masumi, Mai, Yosuke, Ando, Satomi, Ito, Takuya, Yamano, Kimiaki, Shimizu, Hiroshi
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Oxford University Press 15.06.2018
Subjects
Dermis
Mouthparts
Parasitic diseases
Sand
Skin
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Summary:This is a typical case of tungiasis, a parasitic disease caused by the sand flea Tunga penetrans. The flea favors warm, dry environments, and tungiasis is prevalent in rural Central and South America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. The gravid female sand flea penetrates mammalian skin headfirst, burrowing her mouthparts into the superficial dermis to feed on the host’s blood. As its abdomen swells, the pregnant flea becomes spherical and forms unique, uniform eruptions.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:1058-4838
1537-6591
DOI:10.1093/cid/cix1049