[Papular filariasis]

'River blindness' is the main problem of onchocerciasis. Despite a high prevalence of onchocerciasis in endemic countries, cases of imported cutaneous or ocular onchocerciasis in France are rare.

We report the case of a chronic papular onchodermatitis with voluminous lymphadenopathy in a Cameroonian child, resolving with a treatment of ivermectin.

The main symptom of cutaneous onchocerciasis is pruritus, which symptom may alert physicians when dealing with patients who come from endemic countries for onchocerciasis. Cutaneous aspects may vary depending on length of exposure to antigens and immune responses by the host against microfilariae. Nowadays, onchocerciasis is treated with a single dose of ivermectin, which is sufficient for eye and cutaneous symptoms. However, this therapy is efficient only against microfilariae, and treatments have to be repeated many times to avoid relapses linked to persistence of adult worms.