Highlights & Basics
- Cutaneous larva migrans is one of the most common parasitic infestations affecting travelers returning from beach destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, and Southeast Asia.
- Characterized by intensely pruritic serpiginous or linear raised erythematous tracks. Lesions occur on unprotected skin (most commonly involving the feet) that has come into contact with sandy, moist soil contaminated by dog or cat feces containing hookworm eggs.
- Diagnosis made on clinical grounds.
- Although usually self-limited, treatment with oral anthelmintic therapy speeds up resolution of symptoms and is considered curative.
Quick Reference
History & Exam
Key Factors
Other Factors
Diagnostics Tests
Treatment Options
Definition
Epidemiology
Etiology
Pathophysiology
Citations
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Tremblay A, MacLean JD, Gyorkos T, et al. Outbreak of cutaneous larva migrans in a group of travellers. Trop Med Int Health. 2000 May;5(5):330-34.[Abstract][Full Text]
Davies HD, Sakuls P, Keystone JS. Creeping eruption. A review of clinical presentation and management of 60 cases presenting to a tropical disease unit. Arch Dermatol. 1993 May;129(5):588-91.[Abstract]
Reichert F, Pilger D, Schuster A, et al. Epidemiology and morbidity of hookworm-related cutaneous larva migrans (HrCLM): Results of a cohort study over a period of six months in a resource-poor community in Manaus, Brazil. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2018 Jul 19;12(7):e0006662.[Abstract][Full Text]
Heukelbach J, Feldmeier H. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of hookworm-related cutaneous larva migrans. Lancet Infect Dis. 2008 May;8(5):302-9.[Abstract]
Blackwell V, Vega-Lopez F. Cutaneous larva migrans: clinical features and management of 44 cases presenting in the returning traveller. Br J Dermatol. 2001 Sep;145(3):434-7.[Abstract]
Caumes E, Carrière J, Datry A, et al. A randomized trial of ivermectin versus albendazole for the treatment of cutaneous larva migrans. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1993 Nov;49(5):641-4.[Abstract]
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