Highlights
- •Although not commonly seen in the United States, loiasis is important to consider in primary care settings that care for refugees from West and Central Africa.
- •Understanding diagnosis and treatment basics is key to recognizing loiasis in refugee populations.
- •Loiasis can present nonspecifically and requires high clinical suspicion.
Abstract
Loiasis is a parasitic infection caused by the filarial nematode Loa loa within endemic regions of West and Central Africa. These regions include areas co-endemic
for other nematode infections. Although loiasis is rarely seen in the United States,
primary care providers who regularly see refugees from endemic areas should be aware
of its clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, and initial management. Given the
challenges of diagnosing loiasis, especially in low-prevalence settings, we present
cases of 4 family members, 2 of whom were diagnosed with loiasis, and discuss an approach
to screening populations from endemic regions during their initial Refugee Health
Examination upon arrival to the United States.
Keywords
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Biography
Shalini Subbarao, MD, Resident Physician, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, contact at: [email protected]
Biography
Reagan Thompson, DNP, FNP-C, Family Nurse Practitioner, School of Nursing, Department of Population Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
Biography
Amy Klion, MD, Senior Clinical Investigator, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
Biography
Fern R. Hauck, MD, Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
Biography
Tania A. Thomas, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 27, 2023
Footnotes
In compliance with standard ethical guidelines, the authors report no relationships with business or industry that would pose a conflict of interest.
This work was funded in part by the Division of Intramural Research, National Institutes of Health, and the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, University of Virginia. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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