Table 1. Infectious causes of eosinophilia and likelihood of seeing listed etiologies in practice in North America or Europe as well as geographic locations of acquisition, duration of eosinophilia, and main anatomic site affected.
| Eosinophilia Cause (Infectious etiology) | Main Geographic Location(s) | Duration of Eosinophilia1 | Main Anatomic Site(s) of Infection | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acute | Chronic | |||
| Common causes of acute eosinophilia seen in clinical practice in North America and Europe1,2 | ||||
| Coccidioides spp.3 | Southwest US | X | Lungs, skin, CNS, liver | |
| Echinococcus granulosus (days following rupture) | Europe, South America, Australia | X | Liver, lung | |
| Fasciola spp. | South America, Europe, Asia, Egypt | X | Liver | |
| Schistosoma haematobium | Throughout Africa, specifically the Nile, large rivers and lakes as well as smaller bodies of freshwater | X | X | Genitourinary tract |
| Schistosoma mansoni | Africa, South America, Carribean | X | X | Liver, GI |
| Trichinella spp. | Worldwide | X | X | Muscle, GI |
| Causes of acute eosinophilia RARELY seen in clinical practice in North America and Europe | ||||
| Anisakis spp.4 | Japan, Europe | X | GI | |
| Ascaris lumbricoides | Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Western Pacific | X | GI | |
| Angiostrongylus cantonensis | Southeast Asia, Pacific Basin, Africa, Caribbean, Central America | X | CNS | |
| Cystoisospora belli (Formerly Isospora belli) | Tropical regions | X | X | |
| Dirofilaria immitis | Worldwide | X | Lung | |
| Gnathostoma spp. | Southeast Asia, Latin America | X | X | Subcutaneous tissue, CNS |
| Hookworm (A. duodenale and N. americanus) | Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Western Pacific | X | X | GI |
| Paragonimus kellicotti | Mississippi River drainage basin, US [192], most from Missouri | X | X | Lungs, subcutaneous tissue, CNS |
| Sarcocystis spp. | Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia | X | Muscle, GI Subcutaneous, skin | |
| Schistosoma intercalatum | Central and West Africa | X | X | Liver, GI |
| Schistosoma japonicum | Indonesia, China, Southeast Asia | X | X | Liver, GI |
| Schistosoma mekongi | Cambodia, Laos | X | X | Liver, GI |
| Toxocara spp. (Visceral larval migrans) | Worldwide | X | X | Liver, eye, lung |
| Causes of acute eosinophilia EXTREMELY RARELY seen in clinical practice in North America and Europe | ||||
| Basidiobolus ranarum | Worldwide, especially South US | X | GI | |
| B aylisascaris procyonis | North America | X | CNS, eye, liver, lung | |
| Capillaria hepatica | Worldwide | X | Liver | |
| Dicrocoeliasis (Dicrocoelium dendriticum) | Europe, Middle East, northern Asia, North America, northern Africa | X | Hepatobiliary, GI | |
| Echinostoma spp. | Asia | X | GI | |
| Myiasis (esp. Hypoderma spp.) | Northern Hemisphere | X | Subcutaneous, skin, rarely deeper tissues | |
| Sparganosis (Spirometra spp., Sparganum proliferum) | Asia, rare sporadic reports worldwide | X | Subcutaneous, skin, eye, CNS | |
| Tropical pulmonary eosinophilia | South Asia | X | X | Lungs |
| Trichostrongyloides spp. | Worldwide | X | X | GI |
| Causes of chronic eosinophilia COMMONLY seen in clinical practice in North America and Europe | ||||
| Strongyl oides stercoralis5 | Worldwide | X | X | GI, skin |
| Clonorchis spp. | East Asia | X | X | Hepatobiliary |
| Opisthorchis spp. | Southeast Asia, former Soviet Union | X | X | Hepatobiliary |
| Paragonimus spp. (non-kellicotti) | Southeast Asia, Central/West Africa, Latin America | X | X | Hepatobiliary |
| Causes of chronic eosinophilia RARELY seen in clinical practice in North America and Europe | ||||
| Loa loa | Central/West Africa | X | X | Subcutaneous tissue, eye |
| Lymphatic filariasis (W.bancrofti, B. malayi) | Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia (Including India), Western Pacific | X | X | Lymphatics, blood |
| Mansonella ozzardi | Latin America, the Carribean | X | X | Blood |
| Mansonella perstans | Sub-Saharan Africa, South America | X | X | Blood |
| Mansonella streptocerca | Africa | X | X | Skin |
| Onchocerca volvulus | Sub-Saharan Africa | X | X | Skin, subcutaneous tissue |
1
While many diseases listed here can present as either chronic or acute eosinophilia (as indicated by this column), disease etiologies have been grouped by their most common presentations.
2
Some listed processes are more likely to cause eosinophilia than others. This table is organized by what the clinician in North America or Europe is most likely to see in terms of causes of eosinophilia in their clinical practice (which takes into account generally how often the organism causes eosinophilia and how common people are infected and seek medical attention).
3
Most often seen in Western US, very rare in Europe
4
When seen in Europe is mostly the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, extremely rare in the US.
5
Strongyloidiasis is by far the most common infectious cause of chronic eosinophilia