Thiabendazole therapy of lagochilascaris minor infection in Surinam: report of a case

ABSTRACT

A 15-year-old Negro boy, a native of Surinam, was admitted to the University Hospital in Paramaribo because of a small, slowly growing, painful tumor on the left side of the neck below the jaw. Tissue taken at biopsy of the tumor contained structures that suggested worm eggs and cross sections of worms. The patient was discharged without treatment. About 2 months later, his physician sent in a specimen of pus from a fistula that had developed in the tumor. The pus contained adult worms identified as Lagochilascaris minor, also eggs, larvae, and immature worms of this ascarid. The patient was readmitted to hospital and treated with 50 mg of thiabendazole per kg of body weight per day for 5 days. This treatment was repeated 1 week after completion of the first course of therapy, because treatment of another patient with L. minor infection, with smaller doses of thiabendazole, had not been succesful. During the next 8 months the tumor decreased in size and the fistula closed. Despite this favorable result, it is not certain that the infection with L. minor was destroyed.(AU)