From the Research
Cercarial dermatitis, also known as swimmer's itch, is a skin condition caused by the penetration of the skin by larvae (cercariae) of schistosomatid flukes, and the most recent and highest quality study on this topic is from 2018 1.
Definition and Cause
Cercarial dermatitis is an allergic skin disease that occurs when the skin is infected by invasive stages (cercariae) of trematodes of the family Schistosomatidae. The symptoms of cercarial dermatitis are generally known, and the data on immune response in human patients are becoming more comprehensive 1.
Clinical Presentation
The onset of cercarial dermatitis is significantly faster, and the symptoms are heavier in participants with a history of the disease if compared to naive ones, who, however, also develop some of the symptoms 1. The symptoms include a diffuse eruption composed of prurigenous maculopapules that appears within 24 hours following exposure, and regression is spontaneous within one day to three weeks 2.
Prevention and Treatment
Prevention is advisable, and the optimal prevention for bathers is to swim in sufficiently deep water 2. Treatment is symptomatic in the majority of patients, and emollients and topical corticosteroids are effective for most patients 3, 4.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of cercarial dermatitis can be improved by a complex approach, including differential cell counts, dynamics of selected cytokines, and dynamics and quality of antibody response 1. However, no antigen with a universal diagnostic potential was confirmed, and individual immunoblot patterns of IgG response should be interpreted carefully 1.
Key Points
- Cercarial dermatitis is an allergic skin disease caused by the penetration of the skin by larvae (cercariae) of schistosomatid flukes.
- The symptoms include a diffuse eruption composed of prurigenous maculopapules that appears within 24 hours following exposure.
- Prevention is advisable, and the optimal prevention for bathers is to swim in sufficiently deep water.
- Treatment is symptomatic in the majority of patients, and emollients and topical corticosteroids are effective for most patients.
- The diagnosis of cercarial dermatitis can be improved by a complex approach, including differential cell counts, dynamics of selected cytokines, and dynamics and quality of antibody response.