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Home Arthropod infestations Larva migrans CME
Created 2008.
In New Zealand, endemic larva migrans (creeping eruption) is very rare in New Zealand, but travellers to South East Asia regularly present with cutaneous larva migrans. Affected areas are usually the feet and lower legs, or any part of the body that has been in contact with soiled ground.
The eruption is due to penetration of the skin by dog hookworm larvae (usually Ankylostoma species), which are unable to complete their life cycle in humans as they cannot penetrate the basement membrane.
The larva travels several centimetres under the skin causing an irritable track 3-5mm in width that persists for one to three months.
Cutaneous larva migrans may be destroyed using anthelmintics:
Describe the adverse effects of albendazole.
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