Paragonimiasis cases recently found among immigrants in Japan

Paragonimiasis is a typical food-borne parasitic disease mainly endemic in Southeast Asia. In Japan, the disease has been re-emerging since the 1980s. In addition, recently we encountered an increasing number of immigrants with paragonimiasis in Japan. In this study we summarized the clinical features of immigrants.

Among a total of 152 paragonimiasis cases referred to and diagnosed in our laboratory during 1998 to 2002, 18 were immigrants. Their clinical features including laboratory data such as eosinophilia and total IgE level were gathered from the consultation sheets from attending physicians.

Among a total of 18 immigrant cases, 16 were from China and 2 from Thailand. A majority of immigrants had eaten freshwater crabs. Most of the Chinese patients were infected as small groups of family and/or compatriots. Chest radiographic findings were variable and multiple lung lesions were seen in about one-half of the patients. About 80% of patients had peripheral blood eosinophilia and 65% had elevated serum IgE level.

The clinical features of paragonimiasis in immigrants in Japan were much more severe compared to those of Japanese patients.