- larva migrans
- A larval worm, typically a nematode, that wanders for a period in the host tissues but does not develop to the adult stage; this usually occurs in unusual hosts that inhibit normal development of the parasite. [L. larva, mask, + migro, to transfer, migrate]- cutaneous l. a migratory serpiginous or netlike tunneling in the skin, with marked pruritus, caused by wandering hookworm larvae not adapted to intestinal maturation in humans; especially common in the eastern and southern coastal U.S. and other tropical and subtropical coastal areas; various hookworms of dogs and cats have been implicated, chiefly Ancylostoma braziliense of dog and cat feces from beaches and sandboxes in the U.S., but also Ancylostoma caninum of dogs, Uncinaria stenocephala, the European dog hookworm, and Bunostomum phlebotomum, the cattle hookworm; Strongyloides species of animal origin may also contribute to human cutaneous l.. SYN: ancylostoma dermatitis, creeping eruption, cutaneous ancylostomiasis, ground itch, water itch (1).- ocular l. visceral l. involving the eyes, primarily of older children; clinical symptoms include decreased visual acuity and strabismus.- spiruroid l. extraintestinal migration by nematode larvae of the order Spiruroidea, not adapted to maturation in the human intestine; caused chiefly by species of Gnathostoma spinigerum and G. hispidum in Japan and Thailand, following ingestion of uncooked fish infected with encapsulated third-stage infective larvae, and possibly by ingestion of infected copepods (the first intermediate host) in contaminated drinking water; the anteriorly spined larvae produce serpiginous tunnels in the skin or may cause subcutaneous or pulmonary abscess, or may invade the eye or brain.- visceral l. a disease, chiefly of children, caused by ingestion of infective ova of Toxocara canis, less commonly by other ascarid nematodes not adapted to humans, whose larvae hatch in the intestine, penetrate the gut wall, and wander in the viscera (chiefly the liver) for periods of up to 18–24 months; may be asymptomatic or may be marked by hepatomegaly (with granulomatous lesions caused by encapsulated larvae in the enlarged liver), pulmonary infiltration, fever, cough, hyperglobulinemia, and sustained high eosinophilia.
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1. a life stage of certain parasitic larvae in which they wander through the body of their host. 2. infestation by such a wandering parasitic larva. 3. cutaneous l. migrans.
Medical dictionary. 2011.
