Human infections with Angiostrongylus cantonensis

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a parasite that causes eosinophilic meningitis and has been reported to be present on most Pacific islands. Rats are the principal host and several species of land snails the intermediate host. Important paratenic hosts are fresh water shrimp and fish. Modes of transmission include ingestion by man of raw fish, snails and fresh leafy vegetables contaminated by snail slime trails containing larvae. The parasitic worms are neurotropic in man, and the diagnosis should be considered in any adult or child, who presents, in endemic areas or areas with suitable intermediate hosts, with severe unrelenting headache, paresthesias, or a cranial nerve palsy. Eosinophils in the cerebral spinal fluid suggest the diagnosis. Simple analgesia is sufficient for mild cases. Treatment of those with severe symptoms remains controversial. Glucocorticoids, lumbar puncture to reduce intercranial pressure and antihelminthic agents have been used.