New human Dirofilarioses in Hungary

About ten cases of filariosis have recently been recorded in the Hungarian medical literature, six of them caused by Dirofilaria repens. Dirofilaria repensis a mosquito-transmitted filaroid worm in the subcutaneous tissue of dogs and cats in the temperate areas of the Old World. It accidentally infects man, too, and can remain unidentified due to physicians, poor knowledge of the parasite. In the last two years six new Dirofilaria repensinfections have been found in various parts of the country: five localised dermally and one in the deep tissues. Two of the cases might have been acquired in Italy during summer travels. Four patients, however, have never been abroad, these cases must be considered autochtonous infections. The thickness of the multilayered cuticle of the worm, diameter of the body and the size, form and number of the longitudinal ridges on its surface are used in the histological diagnosis of the the parasite.