ABSTRACT
Sixteen patients with imported schistosomiasis in Western Australia, a non-endemic area, are recorded. Ten with Schistosoma mansoni had lived there for over 20 years, three for over 31 years and two for more than 32 years. No record of a life span of 31 years for S. mansoni can be found in the literature. The principal symptomatology in three patients with S. mansoni was hypersplenism. Four patients with S. mansoni were asymptomatic. Ten had eosinophil counts greater than 0.3 X 10(9)/1 and one who showed no peripheral eosinophilia had numerous eosinophil myelocytes in his bone marrow. A diagnosis of schistosomiasis was initially suspected in five cases by respective discovery of eosinophil myelocytes in the bone marrow, radiological evidence of calcification of the bladder wall and beading of both ureters, cytoscopic findings of sandy patches in the bladder, discovery of ova in the wall of a fallopian tube at ectopic gestation and the presence of ova and an adult worm in a uterine leiomyoma. The risk of infection of the Ord River Dam is greater for S. japonicum than for the African species. An epidemiological feature of this series is that refugees from Poland contracted schistosomiasis (S. mansoni) in refugee camps in East Africa and then migrated to Western Australia between 1950 and 1953.
Subject(s)
Schistosoma mansoni/physiology , Schistosomiasis/parasitology , Animals , Australia , Emigration and Immigration , Feces/parasitology , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Diseases contracted in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and observed in Western Australia (WA) have comprised malaria, amoebiasis, ancylostomiasis, filariasis and leprosy. This small series of cases demonstrates the prolongation of incubation periods of malaria following chemoprophylaxis, the spread of chloroquine-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum (both to Western and Eastern regions of PNG), the ineffectiveness of chloroquine against Entamoeba histolytica in the intestine and the value of oral penicillin as a prophylactic for filarial lymphangitis.
Subject(s)
Tropical Medicine , Aged , Amebiasis/diagnosis , Amebiasis/drug therapy , Ancylostomiasis/drug therapy , Australia , Filariasis/drug therapy , Humans , Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic/drug therapy , Leprosy/diagnosis , Malaria/diagnosis , Malaria/drug therapy , Male , Papua New GuineaABSTRACT
A case of importation of the sandflea Tunga penetrans is reported. If this species were to become established in Australia, there could be medical and socioeconomic repercussions.
Subject(s)
Ectoparasitic Infestations/diagnosis , Foot Dermatoses/diagnosis , Siphonaptera , Adult , Humans , Male , TravelABSTRACT
The possibility of brucellosis should be considered in any case of obscure pyrexia, monoarthritis, fascitis or splenomegaly, especially in persons who have been in contact with cattle, pigs or goats, or who have recently visited the Mediterranean region or East Africa. Tetracycline controls the symptoms, and the addition of streptomycin reduces the tendency to relapse.