China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Toxic cyanobacteria *
Published in Jamie Bartram, Rachel Baum, Peter A. Coclanis, David M. Gute, David Kay, Stéphanie McFadyen, Katherine Pond, William Robertson, Michael J. Rouse, Routledge Handbook of Water and Health, 2015
In addition to the above groups of toxins, cyanobacteria are known to produce other potentially toxic compounds. Dermatotoxic alkaloids – lyngbyatoxin and aplysiatoxins – can elicit severe dermatitis and eye irritation on contact, while ingestion or inhalation can cause mild to severe nose and throat irritation. Lipopolysaccharides expressed by most cyanobacteria act as general skin irritants upon contact. These compounds can produce symptoms (including red, blotchy, raised skin rash) similar to – and thus mistaken for – common swimmer’s itch resulting from infection by Schistosoma cercaria. Moreover, ingestion of cyanobacterial dermato- and hepato-toxins can produce symptoms similar to acute schistosomiasis including: headache, fever, severe abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Schistosoma japonicum
Published in Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin, Parasitology, 2015
Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin
Schistosoma intercalatum from east Central Africa, S. guineensis in west Central Africa, and S. mekongi in the Mekong River in Laos and Cambodia all infect people. Cercariae from schistosome species that do not routinely infect humans, including those that normally infect birds, will attempt to penetrate human skin if given the opportunity. In most cases they die in the skin, causing a condition called swimmer’s itch, or cercarial dermatitis, characterized by reddened, raised, itchy papules that persist for a few days and disappear (Figure 4). Secondary exposures result in more pronounced reactions. Swimmer’s itch is a frequent summertime occurrence where people swim in freshwater lakes, and it can also occur in marine and estuarine habitats. Many cases are attributable to species of Trichobilharzia.
Principles of Clinical Diagnosis
Published in Susan Bayliss Mallory, Alanna Bree, Peggy Chern, Illustrated Manual of Pediatric Dermatology, 2005
Susan Bayliss Mallory, Alanna Bree, Peggy Chern
Swimmer’s itch •Insect bites Contact dermatitisCaterpillar dermatitis •Varicella
Schistosome proteomics: updates and clinical implications
Published in Expert Review of Proteomics, 2022
William Castro-Borges, R Alan Wilson
Secretions of cercariae used to penetrate human skin do not appear strongly immunogenic, but this is in complete contrast to those of bird schistosomes, which generate a powerful dermatitis known colloquially as ‘swimmers itch,’ when they penetrate a human host [79]. The first differential proteomic study has been published of the circum-acetabular and post-acetabular gland composition in the cercaria of Trichobilharzia szidati, a duck fluke, isolated by laser microdissection [80]. This information should enable the allergenic constituents to be identified.