Read more about this disease, some with Classification – Types – Signs and symptoms – Genetics – Pathophysiology – Diagnosis – Screening – Prevention – Treatment and management – Cures and much more, some including pictures and video when available.
Tungiasis is a skin infestation of the Tunga penetrans flea (also known as chigoe flea, jigger, nigua or sand flea), found in the tropical parts of Africa, Caribbean, Central and South America, and India. This disease is endemic in Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago where in the 1980s the prevalence of tungiasis among children approached 40%. It is rarely found outside these areas.
The first reported case of tungiasis was noted in the 1500s by Gonzalez Fernandez De Oviedo y Valdes, when sailors from the Santa Maria who sailed with Christopher Columbus were shipwrecked on Haiti and became infected. Tungiasis also infected many of the soldiers of the Spanish conquistadores, who also reported that an entire village in Colombia was abandoned because of this disease. The first clinical account of tungiasis was provided by the Portuguese doctor Aleixo de Abreu.
The symptoms of this disease include:
Left untreated, secondary infections such as bacteremia, tetanus, and gangrene can occur.
Because of their limited jumping ability, the most common sites of infection are the soles of the feet, the toe web and toenails. Preventing infection by chigoe flea is easily achieved by wearing shoes when traveling in endemic regions and spraying insecticides on infested soil. Walking barefoot, especially in children, remains the most common reason why tungiasis remains prevalent in poor, rural populations.
Treatment for tungiasis include physical removal of the flea by use of forceps or needles, application of topical anti-parasitic medicine, and surgery to completely remove the nodules. If the flea is discovered in the early stages it can be easily removed, though it is slightly harder without breaking the egg sack. It appears similar to a pustule on the thick skin of the feet or hands.
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