June 26, 2018.
A 32-year-old woman suffered from heartworm disease, a disease that is quite rare in humans and is characterized by the presence of a worm under the skin.
A woman observes a bump move on her face
In Russia, a case of human heartworm disease was diagnosed and treated. This rare condition was the subject of a publication in The New England Journal of Medicine. The patient is a 32-year-old woman whose the first symptoms were manifested by bumps on the face, which had the peculiarity of moving.
It was during a consultation with an ophthalmologist that the young woman expressed her first concerns. Concerns which were confirmed when the doctor observed a small lump moving, just under his eyes. Analyzes were then immediately carried out and a parasite was discovered under the patient’s skin. The latter could be removed during surgery.
In animals, heartworm disease can be fatal
This parasite, from the Dirofilaria repens family, is quite rare in humans. In general, they concern more animals such as dogs or cats, which are infected as a result of a mosquito bite. This is probably how the Russian patient was also infected since, according to her, she had spent some time in a rural area where she had been often bitten by insects.
In addition to being rare in humans, heartworm is not dangerous, in itself, as the parasite cannot reproduce and fails to mature. In animals, however, this parasitic disease can be fatal. The worms multiply and invade the arteries of infected animals, which eventually succumb to heart failure.
Gaelle Latour
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