Table 6.
Main parasites responsible for pneumonia [107]
| Disease | Parasite | Transmission | Endemic areas | Pulmonary manifestations | Extra-pulmonary manifestations | Diagnosis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Löffler syndrome |
- Ascaris: A. lumbricoides, A. suum - Hookworms: Ancylostoma duodenale, Necator americanus |
- Ascaris: oro-fecal or uncooked pig or chicken meat - Hookworms: skin contact with infected soil |
- Ascaris: worldwide - Hookworms: Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America, Caribbean |
- Cough - Burning substernal discomfort - Dyspnea - Wheezing - Blood-tinged sputum containing eosinophil-derived Charcot-Leyden crystals |
- Blood eosinophilia - Fever |
- Detection of Ascaris or hookworm larvae in respiratory secretions |
| Pulmonary amebiasis | Entamoeba histolytica | Oro-fecal | Worldwide |
- Hemoptysis - Expectoration of anchovy sauce-like pus - Respiratory distress |
- Gastrointestinal symptoms - Liver abscess - Brain abscess |
- Microscopy of sputum or pleural fluid - PCR - Serology - Antigen detection |
| Pulmonary leishmaniasis | Leishmania donovani and Leishmania infantum | Sandflies |
- L. donovani: South Asia, East Africa - L. infantum: Mediterranean basin, western Asia, South America |
- Pleural effusion - Mediastinal lymphadenopathy - Pneumonitis |
- Fever - Splenomegaly - Jaundice - Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis |
- Bone marrow aspiration - Microscopy - Culture - PCR - Serology |
| Pulmonary larva migrans |
Toxocara canis Toxocara cati |
- Dogs (Toxocara canis) - Cats (Toxocara cati) |
- Worldwide | - Asthma |
- Hepato-splenomegaly - Lymph node enlargement - Eye pain, strabismus - Abdominal pain - Neurological manifestations |
- IgE antibody detection - Antigen detection |
| Tropical pulmonary eosinophilia | Lymphatic filariasis: Wuchereria bancrofti, Brugia malayi, Brugia timori | - Mosquitoes | - Tropical countries |
- Paroxysmal and nocturnal cough - Asthma-like attacks |
- Eosinophilia - Weight loss - Lymphadenopathy - Hepatomegaly, and/or splenomegaly |
- Serology - Antigen detection |
| Pulmonary paragonimiasis | - Paragonimus sp | - Eating raw crayfish or crabs |
- Far East - West Africa - America |
- Cough - Rusty brown or blood-stained sputum - Chest pain - Pleural effusion - Pneumonitis |
- Fever |
- Sputum microscopy - Stool sample examination - Serology |
| Pulmonary schistosomiasis | - Shistosoma sp | - Swimming in infected water | - Sub-Saharan Africa | - Dry cough |
- Myalgia, arthralgia - Diarrhea - Headache - Eosinophilia |
- Stool sample examination - Serology - Antigen detection in stool, blood, or urine |
| Pulmonary trichinellosis | - Trichinella spiralis | - Eating undercooked meat | - Worldwide | - Dry cough |
- Abdominal pain - Diarrhea - Muscle pain and weakness - Myocarditis - Eosinophilia |
- Serology - Muscle biopsy |
| Pulmonary babesiosis | - Babesia divergens and Babesia microti | - Tick bite |
- United States - Asia - Sporadic cases in Europe |
- Interstitial pneumonia |
- Fever - Headache - Drenching sweats |
- Blood smear examination - Serology - PCR |