Urinary Schistosomiasis in an Adolescent Refugee from Africa: An Uncommon Cause of Hematuria and an Emerging Infectious
- PDF / 540,218 Bytes
- 4 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 14 Downloads / 181 Views
BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Urinary Schistosomiasis in an Adolescent Refugee from Africa: An Uncommon Cause of Hematuria and an Emerging Infectious Disease in Europe Dimitri Poddighe1 • Lucia Castelli1 • Giovanna Pulcrano2 • Alessia Grosini2 Michela Balzaretti2 • Salvatore Spadaro2 • Paola Bruni1
•
Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract We report a case of urinary schistosomiasis in an adolescent refugee from Gambia (arrived to Italy illegally), who was brought to the Emergency Department of our hospital. The patient complained of gross hematuria and, in the absence of clinical evidence of bacterial urinary infection, was admitted to the pediatric ward, considering his provenience and social setting. An appropriate collection and microscopic analysis of urine samples led to the detection of bilharzia. Much attention should be paid to this emerging disease in Europe by physicians in order to recognize and treat it timely, which could prevent future and higher costs for public health systems and could reduce the potential risk of environmental spreading. In fact, there are some areas in Italy where the parasite can find its intermediate host to complete its lifecycle. Keywords Hematuria Urinary schistosomiasis Imported disease
Introduction Human schistosomiasis, namely bilharzia, is an infectious disease caused by trematodes belonging to the genus Schistosoma. The number of people infected by this parasite
& Dimitri Poddighe [email protected] 1
Department of Pediatrics, Azienda Ospedaliera di Melegnano, via Pandina 1, 20070 Vizzolo Predabissi, MI, Italy
2
Department of Chemical and Clinical Analysis, Azienda Ospedaliera di Melegnano, via Pandina 1, 20070 Vizzolo Predabissi, MI, Italy
is estimated to be at least 230 million worldwide and[80 % cases are in Africa [1]. Currently, six species have been described in human pathology: S. mansoni, S. hematobium, S. intercalatum, S. guineensis, S. japonicum and S. mekongi. Basically, excluding last two species, which are located to Asia electively, all the others can be found in Africa; only S. Mansoni is present in the Americas. The geographic distribution of Schistosoma species is related to the presence of the suitable snail hosts in the natural habitat. Briefly, the lifecycle of Schistosoma includes a mammalian definitive host (human beings is thought to be the predominant reservoir), which eliminates parasite eggs through urine (S. hematobium) or stool (all other species). In the unsalted and fresh water, eggs become ciliated miracidia, which penetrate into the intermediate host, namely snails: here, thousands of cercariae are generated asexually and released again in the water. After cercariae have gone beyond the skin of the mammalian host, these penetrate into the bloodstream and colonize the venules, generating eggs by sexual reproduction [2]. Except for the dermatitis related to cercariae skin penetration, most morbidity caused by this infection is due to eggs deposition in the gastrointestinal system and in the urinary/genitourinary tract a
Data Loading...
