Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T02:05:25.479Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Confirmation of the presence of Trichobilharzia by examination of water samples and snails following reports of cases of cercarial dermatitis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2009

F. M. SCHETS ,
W. J. LODDER  and
A. M. DE RODA HUSMAN
F. M. SCHETS*
Affiliation:
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology, PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
W. J. LODDER
Affiliation:
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology, PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
A. M. DE RODA HUSMAN
Affiliation:
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology, PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author: Tel: +31 30 274 3929. Fax: +31 30 274 4434. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

In case of cercarial dermatitis after exposure to fresh water lakes, managers responsible for bathing water quality wish to confirm the presence of Trichobilharzia, which substantiates taking measures to protect bathers from further exposure. A novel approach, including concentration of suspected water samples by filtration and PCR detection of the parasite, is proposed. This approach has been applied to bathing sites with a history of cercarial dermatitis, sampled from 2005 to 2008. Examination of snails, the standard procedure for confirmation of the parasite's presence, and analysis of water samples, appear to be complementary procedures that enhance the chance of parasite detection in implicated bathing water. Water analysis is particularly valuable when snails cannot be found; it confirmed the presence of Trichobilharzia on 25% of sampling days with reported skin conditions and no snails found. PCR of the ToSau3A repeat directly confirmed the parasite in the water. The application of the combination of analysis of water samples and examination of snails is suggested when cases of (presumptive) cercarial dermatitis are reported or when lakes with a history of cercarial dermatitis are inspected prior to the bathing season, in order to guide interventions to prevent (further) cases of swimmers' itch.

Keywords

Trichobilharziacercarial dermatitisrecreational waterschistosomesswimmers' itchwater quality
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 137 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 77 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anonymous. (2006). ISO 15553: Water quality – isolation and identification of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts form water. International Organisation for Standardisation, Geneva, Switzerland.Google Scholar
De Gentile, L., Picot, H., Bourdeau, P., Bardet, R., Kerjan, A., Piriou, M., Le Guennic, A., Bayssade-Dufour, C., Chabasse, D. and Mott, K. E. (1996). La dermatite cercarienne en Europe: un problème de santé publique nouveau? (Cercarial dermatitis in Europe: a new public health problem?). World Health Organization Bulletin 74, 159–163.Google Scholar
Dvořák, J., Vaňáčová, Š., Hampl, V., Flegr, J. and Horák, P. (2002). Comparison of European Trichobilharzia species based on ITS1 and ITS2 sequences. Parasitology 124, 307–313.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferté, H., Depaquit, J., Carré, S., Villena, I. and Léger, N. (2005). Presence of Trichobilharzia szidati in Lymnaea stagnalis and T. franki in Radix auricularia in northeastern France: molecular evidence. Parasitology Research 95, 150–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, S. J., Allan, S. J. R., Roworth, M., Smith, H. V. and Holme, S. A. (2009). Cercarial dermatitis in the UK. Clininal and Experimental Dermatology 34, 344–346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glöer, P. and Meier-Brook, C. (2003). Süßwassermollusken – ein Bestimmungsschlüssel für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Deutscher Jugendbund für Naturbeobachtung, 13. Neubearbeitete Auflage ISBN 3-923376-02-2.Google Scholar
Graham, A. L. (2003). Effect of snail size and age on the prevalence and intensity of avian schistosome infection: relating laboratory to field studies. Journal of Parasitology 89, 458–463.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hertel, J., Hamburger, J., Haberl, B. and Haas, W. (2002). Detection of bird schistosomes in lakes by PCR and filter-hybridisation. Experimental Parasitology 101, 57–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horák, P. and Kolářová, L. (2001). Bird schistosomes: do they die in mammalian skin? TRENDS in Parasitology 17, 66–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Horák, P., Kolářová, L. and Adema, C. M. (2002). Biology of the schistosome genus Trichobilharzia. Advances in Parasitology 52, 155–233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jouet, D., Ferté, H., Depaquit, J., Rudolfová, J., Latour, P., Zanella, D., Kaltenbach, M. L. and Léger, N. (2008). Trichobilharzia spp. in natural conditions in Annecy Lake, France. Parasitology Research 103, 51–58.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kolářová, L., Skírnisson, K. and Horák, P. (1999). Schistosome cercariae as the causative agent of swimmer's itch in Iceland. Journal of Helminthology 73, 215–220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loy, C. and Haas, W. (2001). Prevalence of cercariae from Lymnaea stagnalis snails in a pond system in Southern Germany. Parasitology Research 87, 878–882.Google Scholar
Noordhuizen, J. P. T. M., Frankena, K., van der Hoofd, C. M. and Graat, E. A. M. (1997). Application of quantitative methods in veterinary epidemiology. Wageningen Pers, Wageningen, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Rao, V. G., Dash, A. P., Agrawal, M. C., Yadav, R. S., Anvikar, A. R., Vohra, S., Bhondeley, M. K., Ukey, M. J., Das, S. K., Minocha, R. K. and Tiwari, B. K. (2007). Cercarial dermatitis in central India: an emerging health problem among tribal communities. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology 101, 409–413.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schets, F. M. and de Roda Husman, A. M. (2007). Gezondheidsklachten gerelateerd aan recreatie in oppervlaktewater, zomer 2005. (Health complaints related to surface water recreation, summer 2005). Infectieziekten Bulletin 18, 55–60.Google Scholar
Schets, F. M. and de Roda Husman, A. M. (2008 a). Gezondheidsklachten gerelateerd aan recreatie in oppervlaktewater, zomer 2006. (Health complaints related to surface water recreation, summer 2006). Infectieziekten Bulletin 19, 32–35.Google Scholar
Schets, F. M., Lodder, W. J., van Duynhoven, Y. T. P. H., and de Roda Husman, A. M. (2008 b). Cercarial dermatitis in the Netherlands caused by Trichobilharzia spp. Journal of Water and Health 06, 187–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skírnisson, K. and Kolářová, L. (2008). Diversity of bird schistosomes in anseriform birds in Iceland based on egg measurements and egg morphology. Parasitology Research 103, 43–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sluiters, J. F., Brussaard-Wüst, C. M. and Meuleman, E. A. (1980). The relationship between miracidial dose, production of cercariae, and reproductive activity of the host in the combination Trichobilharzia ocellata and Lymnaea stagnalis. Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 63, 13–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valdovinos, C. and Balboa, C. (2008). Cercarial dermatitis and lake eutrophication in south-central Chile. Epidemiology and Infection 136, 391–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zbikowska, E. (2004). Infection of snails with bird schistosomes and the threat of swimmer's itch in selected Polish lakes. Parasitology Research 92, 30–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed