Cercarial dermatitis occurs on the exposed skin outside of close-fitting garments. The areas of skin affected by seabather’s eruption is generally under the garments worn by bathers and swimmers where the organisms are trapped after the person leaves the water. Cercarial dermatitis should not be confused with seabather’s eruption, which is caused by the larval stage of cnidarians (e.g., jellyfish). ![]() The snail, Nassarius obsoletus, is the intermediate host for this species and can be found at marine beaches in temperate climates. One species of schistosome often implicated in cases of cercarial dermatitis is Austrobilharzia variglandis, whose normal hosts are ducks. Cases of cercarial dermatitis can occur in both fresh and brackish water environments. The penetration causes a dermatitis which is usually accompanied with intense itching, but the cercariae do not mature into adults in the human body. They attempt to, and, sometimes may actually, enter human skin. These cercariae seem to have a chemotrophic reaction to secretions from the skin and are not as host-specific as other types of schistosomes. Note the forked “tail” and a pair of “eye spots” near the anterior end (right).Ĭercarial dermatitis is caused by the cercariae of certain species of schistosomes whose normal hosts are birds and mammals other than humans. Swimmer’s itch parasite – Cercariae of Austrobilharzia variglandis – which can cause cercarial dermatitis. Swimmer’s itch should not be confused with sea bather’s eruption (caused by larval forms of the thimble jellyfish sea anenome or Portuguese Man-of-War) or seaweed dermatitis (caused by an alga).įigure 1. When infection occurs in sea water, it is sometimes called ‘Sea Lice’. In New Zealand it is called ‘Duck Itch’ and in parts of United States it is called ‘Duckworms’ or ‘Duck fleas’. In developing countries, swimmer’s itch has been called ‘rice paddy itch’, ‘clam diggers itch’, ‘sawah’ (Malaysia), ‘kubure’ or ‘kobanyo’ (Japanese) and ‘hoi con’ (Thailand). The technical name for swimmer’s itch is cercarial dermatitis.
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