AN OPHTHALMOLOGIC CASE OF DIROFILARIASIS: CLINICAL ASPECTS, DIAGNOSIS, PREVENTION

Abstract

Objective: to characterize the macroscopic diagnosis, sources of infection, and ways of prevention using the example of an ophthalmic case of dirofilariasis. Material and methods. The work presents an ophthalmologic case of dirofilariasis in a 27 year-old female patient and describes the macroscopic diagnosis of helminthiasis. Results. The article deals with actual issues of one of the transmissible zoonotic biohelminthiasis - human dirofilariasis. It gives a historical perspective of the disease and the data about the frequency of dirofilariasis in Belarus. The article describes a clinical case of human dirofilariasis in Gomel first caused by hypodermic migration of nematode larva and then by parasitization of the conjunctiva by an adult nematode. The male Dirofilaria repens was found and identified in the female patient. The fact of local infection was established, morphological diagnostic features of the helminth were defined. Preventive measures were recommended. Conclusion. In Gomel, dirofilariasis has a sporadic character, but some cases of indigenous infection can be found. Further studies of the epidemiology of the disease are required.