CREEPING ERUPTION CAUSED BY A LARVA OF THE SUBORDER SPIRURINA TYPE-X

We report a 40-year-old Japanese man with a creeping eruption caused b y a larva of the nematode suborder Spirurina type X, He had eaten raw small squid (hotaruika) 4 weeks before the serpiginous erythematous er uption appeared on his abdomen. Routine laboratory tests revealed only slight eosinophilia in his peripheral blood. Although we could not fi nd the larva in an excised skin specimen, an indirect immunofluorescen ce test confirmed the presence of antibodies against larvae of the sub order Spirurina type X. We review 28 reported cases in Japan which sho wed that creeping eruption caused by larvae of the suborder Spirurina type X has the following clinical characteristics: an incubation time of 1-4 weeks; a migratory, well-defined, narrow serpiginous erythemato us eruption; and only slight peripheral blood eosinophilia. Excision o f the advancing end of the track was curative in our patient.