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Section 3. Summaries of Infectious Diseases
Trichinellosis
(Trichinella spiralis)
Clinical Manifestations
Etiology
Epidemiology
Diagnostic Tests
Treatment
Isolation of the Hospitalized Patient
Control Measures
CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS: The clinical spectrum of infection
ranges from inapparent to fulminant and fatal illness, but most
infections are inapparent. The severity of the disease is proportional
to the infective dose. During the first week after ingesting
infected meat, a person may be asymptomatic or experience abdominal
discomfort, nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. Two to 8 weeks
later, as larvae migrate into tissues, fever, myalgia, periorbital
edema, urticarial rash, and conjunctival and subungual hemorrhages
may develop. Larvae may remain viable in tissues for years;
calcification of some larvae in skeletal muscle usually occurs
within 6 to 24 months and may be detected on radiographs. In
severe infections, myocarditis, neurologic involvement, and
pneumonitis can follow in 1 or 2 months.
ETIOLOGY: Infection is caused by nematodes (roundworms) of
the genus
Trichinella. At least 5 species capable of infecting
only warm-blooded animals have been identified. Worldwide,
Trichinella spiralis is the most common cause of human infection.
EPIDEMIOLOGY: The infection is enzootic worldwide in many carnivores,
especially scavengers. Infection occurs as a result of ingestion
of raw or insufficiently cooked meat containing encysted larvae
of
T . . . [Go to Full Text]
Related text in Red Book:
- Drugs for Parasitic Infections
Red Book
2006: 790-820.
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