Korean J Parasitol.  2005 Jun;43(2):51-55. 10.3347/kjp.2005.43.2.51.

A case of fatal hyperinfective strongyloidiasis with discovery of autoinfective filariform larvae in sputum

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine, Seonam University, Namwon, Korea. jinkim@seonam.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Pathology, Gwangju Veterans Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
  • 3Department of Internal Medicine, Gwangju Veterans Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.

Abstract

The autoinfective filariform larva of Strongyloides stercoralis causes hyperinfection in immunosuppressed hosts. Here we report on the case of a male patient who was admitted to the emergency room at Gwangju Veterans Hospital with a complaint of dyspnea, and who was receiving corticosteroid therapy for asthma. Many slender larvae of S. stercoralis with a notched tail were detected in Papanicolaou stained sputum. They measured 269 +/- 21.2 micrometer in length and 11 +/- 0.6 micrometer in width. The esophagus extended nearly half of the body length. The larvae were identified putatively as autoinfective third-stage filariform larvae, and their presence was fatal. The autoinfective filariform larva of S. stercoralis has not been previously reported in Korea.

Keyword

Strongyloides stercoralis; filariform larva; hyperinfection; autoinfection; notched tail

MeSH Terms

Aged
Animals
Fatal Outcome
Humans
Immunocompromised Host
Larva
Male
Sputum
Strongyloides/growth & development/*isolation & purification
Strongyloidiasis/*etiology
Superinfection/*parasitology
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