Title
Case report: Persistent strongyloidiasis complicated by recurrent meningitis in an HTLV seropositive Peruvian migrant resettled in Italy
Date Issued
01 June 2015
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Zammarchi L.
Montagnani F.
Tordini G.
Bisoffi Z.
Bartoloni A.
De Luca A.
Publisher(s)
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Abstract
We describe a case of persistent strongyloidiasis complicated by recurrent meningitis, in a human T cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) seropositive Peruvian migrant adult resettled in Italy. He was admitted with signs and symptoms of acute bacterial meningitis, reporting four other meningitis episodes in the past 6 years, with an etiological diagnosis of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecium in two cases. He had been previously treated with several antihelmintic regimens not including ivermectin, without eradication of strongyloidiasis, and he had never been tested for HTLV before. During the described episode, the patient was treated for meningitis with broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy and 200 mg/kg/dose oral ivermectin once daily on day 1, 2, 15 and 16 with full recovery and no further episodes of meningitis. The presented case underlines several critical points concerning the management of poorly known neglected diseases such as strongyloidiasis and HTLV infection in low-endemic areas. Despite several admissions for meningitis and strongyloidiasis, the parasitic infection was not adequately treated and the patient was not previously tested for HTLV. The supply of ivermectin and the choice of treatment scheme was challenging since ivermectin is not approved in Italy and there are no standardized guidelines for the treatment of severe strongyloidiasis in HTLV seropositive subjects.
Start page
1257
End page
1260
Volume
92
Issue
6
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Enfermedades infecciosas Medicina tropical
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84930607131
PubMed ID
Source
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN of the container
00029637
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus