Help please: Bizarre skin lesions associated with burrowing parasites

[Guest guest]

Hiu All,

 

Sunny <SacredQi216 asked me to post this. The

photos of the lesions are posted as a jpg zip file to the files area at:

 

78 yo woman who lived in a lot of South America in the last 8 years

(Cuba, Puerto Rico, Columbia, Venezuela). Something (don't know

what it is) forms rings in the the skin. A black and hairy worm-like

parasite emerges. Then lesion disappears but another ring appears in

another part of the leg.

 

The skin is really, really dry. Woman believes she has parasites; she

feels them moving in different parts like Rt leg to vagina the anus. She

also feels them move in the eye. I took one to the lab to see what it was

but hurricane hit and the worm dried. Lab test not made. Skin is so hard

that it feels like touching a piece of wood or leather. She believes it is

from the parasites. Claims it is a form of elephantiasis without the

gross swelling although limbs are swollen. Legs are reddish brown and

purplish in spots. Past Hx for polio. Has HBP which was under control.

Tongue thickly coated with red body. Pulse deep barely perceptible in

any position. Fingernails have a strange stripe down the center of every

nail. Toenails thick Sycotic miasm. Arm has scarring where the

parasites have come out. Also an interesting ring worm type formation

near the elbow. Inner malleolus very swollen and hard.

 

Woman went to 12-15 doctors who know about tropical disease. They

haven't found a cure.

 

If you can help by posting the pics or just giving advice I would

appreciate it. Pics attached. Sunny

 

The lesions are in the files area of the TCM List at

 

http://health.Chinese Medicine/file

s/

as files lesion 1, lesion 2 and lesion 3, or

:

(1) http://tinyurl.com/lsrcj

(2) http://tinyurl.com/lm77z

(3) http://tinyurl.com/rl5mx

 

------- End of forwarded message -------

 

Sunny, this sounds like a case of the human myiasis, such as lesions

caused by the larvae of the human bot fly [

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsalo or

http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/milmed/milderm.pdf ]. However, it could

also be a case of cutaneous larva migrans (caused by the larvae of

hookworms or similar parasites [

http://64.207.175.160/arthropods/larva-migrans.html ]

 

However, both fly larvae larva and hookworm larvae are self-limiting;

they seldom lives for more than 8 weeks in the body.

 

Filariasism is unlikely, as the adult worm usually is only 50-100 microns

long and rarely exceeds 250 microns.

 

I cannot find references on Google to hairy worms that can live in

human body. The Guinea Worm can do so, but it is mainly an African

pest. http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/content/full/15/4/595 says:Dracunculus and

Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease): The best-documented

parasitic disease known from the earliest times is undoubtedly that

caused by the nematode worm Dracunculus medinensis. Adult worms

live in subcutaneous connective tissue, from which the female worm

emerges to release thousands of larvae into water, where they are

eaten by intermediate hosts, cyclopodid crustaceans, in which they

mature into infective larvae that infect humans when the crustaceans

are accidentally swallowed with drinking water. The large female worm,

up to 80 cm in length, protrudes from the skin, usually of the leg, and

causes intense inflammation and irritation, signs that are so unusual

and unambiguous that ancient texts can be interpreted with some

certainty. The earliest descriptions are from the Ebers papyrus from

1500 BC and include instructions for treating aat swelling in the limbs;

they appear to refer to both the nature of the infection and techniques

for removing the worm. This interpretation is widely accepted by most

parasitologists (89, 105, 121, 251), but there are difficulties in

interpreting this particular text since the word aat may simply mean a

swelling (205). Nevertheless, confirmation of the presence of this worm

in ancient Egypt comes from the finding of a well-preserved female

worm and a calcified worm in Egyptian mummies (205). Dracunculiasis

is one of the few diseases unambiguously described in the Bible, and

most parasitologists accept that the " fiery serpents " that struck down

the Israelites in the region of the Red Sea after the Exodus from Egypt

somewhere about 1250 to 1200 BC were actually Guinea worms (16).

The most authoritative interpretation of this biblical text, thought to have

been written in the eighth century BC, is that by Gottlob Friedrich

Heinrich K¨¹chenmeister, a parasitologist, theologian, and Hebrew

scholar, in his 1855 textbook translated into English as Animal and

Vegetable Parasites (144). Assyrian texts in the library of King

Ashurbanipal from the 7th century BC also refer to conditions that are

obviously dracunculiasis, and later descriptions of dracunculiasis occur

in all the major Greek and Roman texts and works by the Arab

physicians the 10th and 11th centuries (105, 121). Because there is

reference to " Medina vein " in the Arab literature, some historians have

suggested that the Arab physicians may have thought that the worm

was actually a rotten vein, but most informed observers now agree that

the Arab physicians were fully aware of the worm-like nature of

dracunculiasis but not necessarily the actual cause of the disease (105,

251). Interest in dracunculiasis reemerged when the condition began to

be recognized by European travelers visiting Africa (hence the common

name, Guinea worm) and Asia. In 1674, Georgius Hieronymus

Velschius initiated the scientific study of the worm and the disease it

caused (263), and in 1819, Carl Asmund Rudolphi discovered adult

female worms containing larvae (234), a discovery that was followed up

in 1834 by a Dane known only as Jacobson (128). In 1836, D. Forbes, a

British army officer serving in India, found and described the larvae of

D. medinensis in water (87), and over the next few years several

parasitologists, including George Busk (33), pursued the idea that

humans became infected through the skin. It was not until 1870 that the

whole life cycle, including the stages in the crustacean intermediate

host, was elaborated by the Russian Alekej Pavlovitch Fedchenko (80,

136). Fedchenko's observations gained wide acceptance after they

were confirmed by Manson in 1894 (179), and the whole life cycle was

finally elaborated in 1913 by the Indian bacteriologist Dyneshvar

Atmaran Turkhud, who succeeded in infecting human volunteers with

infected Cyclops (136, 256). There are more detailed accounts of the

history of Dracunculus by Foster (89), Grove (105), and Tayeh (251).

 

If your patient has been away from South America for more than 3

months, it may be something else.

 

Ivermectin or organophosphate insecticides can kill fly/worm larvae in

situ. However, some experts says that it is dangerous to kill

subcutaneous larvae because they may produce a violent reaction.

 

IMO, your patient should consult an expert in tropical myiasis or a

military doctor with experience in the tropics.

 

The description does not fit screw-worm larvae (up to 3000 of which can

live in one wound! Nasty little buggers!

 

Best regards,

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Research Morgellons parasite, Good luck

-

traditional_Chinese_Medicine

Cc: SacredQi216

Tuesday, August 29, 2006 10:42 AM

Help please: Bizarre skin lesions associated with burrowing

parasites

 

 

Hiu All,

 

Sunny <SacredQi216 asked me to post this. The

photos of the lesions are posted as a jpg zip file to the files area at:

 

78 yo woman who lived in a lot of South America in the last 8 years

(Cuba, Puerto Rico, Columbia, Venezuela). Something (don't know

what it is) forms rings in the the skin. A black and hairy worm-like

parasite emerges. Then lesion disappears but another ring appears in

another part of the leg.

 

The skin is really, really dry. Woman believes she has parasites; she

feels them moving in different parts like Rt leg to vagina the anus. She

also feels them move in the eye. I took one to the lab to see what it was

but hurricane hit and the worm dried. Lab test not made. Skin is so hard

that it feels like touching a piece of wood or leather. She believes it is

from the parasites. Claims it is a form of elephantiasis without the

gross swelling although limbs are swollen. Legs are reddish brown and

purplish in spots. Past Hx for polio. Has HBP which was under control.

Tongue thickly coated with red body. Pulse deep barely perceptible in

any position. Fingernails have a strange stripe down the center of every

nail. Toenails thick Sycotic miasm. Arm has scarring where the

parasites have come out. Also an interesting ring worm type formation

near the elbow. Inner malleolus very swollen and hard.

 

Woman went to 12-15 doctors who know about tropical disease. They

haven't found a cure.

 

If you can help by posting the pics or just giving advice I would

appreciate it. Pics attached. Sunny

 

The lesions are in the files area of the TCM List at

 

http://health.Chinese Medicine/file

s/

as files lesion 1, lesion 2 and lesion 3, or

:

(1) http://tinyurl.com/lsrcj

(2) http://tinyurl.com/lm77z

(3) http://tinyurl.com/rl5mx

 

------- End of forwarded message -------

 

Sunny, this sounds like a case of the human myiasis, such as lesions

caused by the larvae of the human bot fly [

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsalo or

http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/milmed/milderm.pdf ]. However, it could

also be a case of cutaneous larva migrans (caused by the larvae of

hookworms or similar parasites [

http://64.207.175.160/arthropods/larva-migrans.html ]

 

However, both fly larvae larva and hookworm larvae are self-limiting;

they seldom lives for more than 8 weeks in the body.

 

Filariasism is unlikely, as the adult worm usually is only 50-100 microns

long and rarely exceeds 250 microns.

 

I cannot find references on Google to hairy worms that can live in

human body. The Guinea Worm can do so, but it is mainly an African

pest. http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/content/full/15/4/595 says:Dracunculus and

Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease): The best-documented

parasitic disease known from the earliest times is undoubtedly that

caused by the nematode worm Dracunculus medinensis. Adult worms

live in subcutaneous connective tissue, from which the female worm

emerges to release thousands of larvae into water, where they are

eaten by intermediate hosts, cyclopodid crustaceans, in which they

mature into infective larvae that infect humans when the crustaceans

are accidentally swallowed with drinking water. The large female worm,

up to 80 cm in length, protrudes from the skin, usually of the leg, and

causes intense inflammation and irritation, signs that are so unusual

and unambiguous that ancient texts can be interpreted with some

certainty. The earliest descriptions are from the Ebers papyrus from

1500 BC and include instructions for treating aat swelling in the limbs;

they appear to refer to both the nature of the infection and techniques

for removing the worm. This interpretation is widely accepted by most

parasitologists (89, 105, 121, 251), but there are difficulties in

interpreting this particular text since the word aat may simply mean a

swelling (205). Nevertheless, confirmation of the presence of this worm

in ancient Egypt comes from the finding of a well-preserved female

worm and a calcified worm in Egyptian mummies (205). Dracunculiasis

is one of the few diseases unambiguously described in the Bible, and

most parasitologists accept that the " fiery serpents " that struck down

the Israelites in the region of the Red Sea after the Exodus from Egypt

somewhere about 1250 to 1200 BC were actually Guinea worms (16).

The most authoritative interpretation of this biblical text, thought to have

been written in the eighth century BC, is that by Gottlob Friedrich

Heinrich K¨¹chenmeister, a parasitologist, theologian, and Hebrew

scholar, in his 1855 textbook translated into English as Animal and

Vegetable Parasites (144). Assyrian texts in the library of King

Ashurbanipal from the 7th century BC also refer to conditions that are

obviously dracunculiasis, and later descriptions of dracunculiasis occur

in all the major Greek and Roman texts and works by the Arab

physicians the 10th and 11th centuries (105, 121). Because there is

reference to " Medina vein " in the Arab literature, some historians have

suggested that the Arab physicians may have thought that the worm

was actually a rotten vein, but most informed observers now agree that

the Arab physicians were fully aware of the worm-like nature of

dracunculiasis but not necessarily the actual cause of the disease (105,

251). Interest in dracunculiasis reemerged when the condition began to

be recognized by European travelers visiting Africa (hence the common

name, Guinea worm) and Asia. In 1674, Georgius Hieronymus

Velschius initiated the scientific study of the worm and the disease it

caused (263), and in 1819, Carl Asmund Rudolphi discovered adult

female worms containing larvae (234), a discovery that was followed up

in 1834 by a Dane known only as Jacobson (128). In 1836, D. Forbes, a

British army officer serving in India, found and described the larvae of

D. medinensis in water (87), and over the next few years several

parasitologists, including George Busk (33), pursued the idea that

humans became infected through the skin. It was not until 1870 that the

whole life cycle, including the stages in the crustacean intermediate

host, was elaborated by the Russian Alekej Pavlovitch Fedchenko (80,

136). Fedchenko's observations gained wide acceptance after they

were confirmed by Manson in 1894 (179), and the whole life cycle was

finally elaborated in 1913 by the Indian bacteriologist Dyneshvar

Atmaran Turkhud, who succeeded in infecting human volunteers with

infected Cyclops (136, 256). There are more detailed accounts of the

history of Dracunculus by Foster (89), Grove (105), and Tayeh (251).

 

If your patient has been away from South America for more than 3

months, it may be something else.

 

Ivermectin or organophosphate insecticides can kill fly/worm larvae in

situ. However, some experts says that it is dangerous to kill

subcutaneous larvae because they may produce a violent reaction.

 

IMO, your patient should consult an expert in tropical myiasis or a

military doctor with experience in the tropics.

 

The description does not fit screw-worm larvae (up to 3000 of which can

live in one wound! Nasty little buggers!

 

Best regards,

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Rissa & All,

 

Rissa Guest wrote:

> Research Morgellons parasite, Good luck

 

IMO, the description of the " worm with hairs " , and its colour, and size,

do not fit with Morgellons disease. Myiasis (such as by the larvae of the

human bot fly (Dermatobia hominis), or visceral larva migrans are more

likely, IMO.

 

Savely VR, Leitao MM, Stricker RB. The mystery of Morgellons disease:

infection or delusion?Am J Clin Dermatol. 2006;7(1):1-5. South Austin

Family Practice Clinic, Austin, Texas, USA. Morgellons disease is a

mysterious skin disorder that was first described more than 300 years

ago. The disease is characterized by fiber-like strands extruding from

the skin in conjunction with various dermatologic and neuropsychiatric

symptoms. In this respect, Morgellons disease resembles and may be

confused with delusional parasitosis. The association with Lyme

disease and the apparent response to antibacterial therapy suggest that

Morgellons disease may be linked to an undefined infectious process.

Further clinical and molecular research is needed to unlock the mystery

of Morgellons disease. PMID: 16489838 [PubMed - indexed for

MEDLINE]

 

Best regards,