Introduction and case presentation
On a warm late summer holiday, a family with four children decided to make their own aquarium to the back yard and collected small fish and water snails form a nearby lake to a small pool. On the next day, all children suffered from itching on their hands and legs. Antihistamines and topical corticosteroids were used to control the itch and the pool was emptied.
Discussion and conclusion
Cercarial dermatitis, also referred as swimmer´s itch in especially common in children but only a few cases has been reported via contact with an aquarium, as described by Fölster-Holst (2001). The diagnosis is made by observing the maculopapular skin eruptions affecting areas exposed to water.
During late summer, cercarial dermatitis is a relatively common disease. The primary hosts, mainly water birds, excrete parasitic eggs in their faeces. In water, the larvae hatch from the eggs and penetrate aquatic snails, which serve as intermediate hosts, studied by González (1989). The snails release cercariae, which are able to infect water birds again. Cercariae die within few hours in human epidermis, but skin eruption may last for two weeks.
References
1. Horák, P,, Mikes, L., Lichtenbergova, L., Skála, V., Soldánova, M., and Brandt, S.V. (2015) “Avian schistosomes and outbreaks of cercarial dermatitis,” Clinical Microbiology Reviews 28 (1) 165-190.
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2. Fölster-Holst, R., Disko, R., Rowert, J., Bockeler, W., Kreiselmaier, I. and Christophers, E. (1996) “Cercarial dermatitis contracted via contact with an aquarium: case report and review,” British Journal of Dermatology, 145 (4) 638-40.
3. González, E. (1989) “Schistosomiasis, cercarial dermatitis, and marine dermatitis,” Clinics of Dermatology, 7 (2) 291-300.
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