Cutanous Larva Migrans......

[caribbeanprlgrl]

Why are those horses aloud on the beach? That drives me crazy every time I am there, they drop there loads every where and some of those young kids ride them like maniacs up and down the beach,is this not dangerous?

Several years ago in one of the island newspapers we had read an article about this very thing.....allowing horses on beaches. There was to have been a law forbidding this on 7 Mile beach. What happened....did it not go thru, or is it just not enforced?

We have watched horses "take a dump" and the kid riding the horse gets off, digs a big hole in the sand and buries it.

The hookworms then crawl to the surface and some unsuspecting "host" steps in it and they are infected. It makes us furious anytime we have seen it. What a filthy practice where there is a constant stream of people walking. After going thru what my hubby did, my blood boils even thinking about it.

[Rob]

Cprigirl,

Sorry to hear about you and your husband's experience, but glad to hear all is now well. Since hookworm is more common in the tropics (although it can be caught in other regions as well) - a quick trip to any pharmacist here on the island would have let you know a short treatment with Mintezol would have handled the whole thing very quickly. Children are the most common effected and they are treated without incident. There is even a brand of treatment marketed to parents here in colorful little boxes with a very cartoonish spelling of WORMS right on the label.

All the pain for your husband may have been caused by the what sounds like some kind of misdiagnosis of the hookworm problem.

According to the US CDC "Hookworm infection is mainly acquired by walking barefoot on contaminated soil." :

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/hookworm/

Contrary to what you stated, there is no direct risk of loss of life or limb from hookworm - both the US CDC and the USA National Institute of Health dispute this conclusion. The CDC states "The most serious effects of hookworm infection are blood loss leading to anemia, in addition to protein loss. Hookworm infections are treatable with medication prescribed by your health care provider." Links to more information are provided below:

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/hookworm/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001653/

It would seem that your husband's original diagnosis may have missed infections that may have led to his hospitalization which in turn may have increased the risk of getting other infections which became part of his terrible 4 month ordeal. Even the USA CDC admits that at least 1.7 million Americans contract infections in US hospitals each year. There is a US organization that explains the problems contracting (HAI - hospital-acquired infections) that are a major issue in the US:

http://www.hospitalinfection.org/essentialfacts.shtml

Back in the 80's, I contracted hookworm on a cruise ship (no idea which island) and it was misdiagnosed when I got back to Ohio. Luckily enough, on my second visit to the doctor a second doctor happened to stop in and countered the useless and possibly harmful treatment I was receiving by the first doctor. A short treatment with the appropriate treatment quickly solved my problem.

Since Lisa and I have both lived here for nearly a combined 30 years, and neither of us have contracted it here, there are some simple things anyone can do to minimize the chance of getting hookworm. First, wear sandals when possible, walking barefoot at the shoreline or in the hot sand should not be a problem. Second dont walk barefoot in areas where you have seen cats or dogs hang out. Thirdly, as strange as this may sound, wear your sandals when going into darkened areas, walking around town or when using bathrooms at any establishment. It may seem like a no-brainer, but we have seen it done more often than we can count. And should you even suspect that something isnt right, just go to any of the local pharmacists as they will be able help you immediately.

[LLAP]

God forbid it happening. How long after contact / exposure do the problems manifest?

Thanks for the info.

[goldilocks]

for Gail: "hoofless horses" do you mean they have no horseshoes? I have seem some riders moving way too quickly down the beach, not cool.

Skeeving at the very thought of going into a restroom barefoot!

[caribbeanprlgrl]

God forbid it happening. How long after contact / exposure do the problems manifest?

Thanks for the info.

The larvae enter through the pores in your skin. They can instantly manifest themselves, but usually will take a few days to start by showing up as patches of red irritated skin. We have been told this by Drs we have spoken to, as well as the hours upon hours of reading I have done. In several medical journals, Drs. have found some rare cases of incubation for up to a year before manifesting themselves.

[Dana1]

Sorry to hear about your husband's ordeal!! My husband contracted this on our honeymoon trip to Beaches Inn. We had alot of rain that week and figured he must have stepped in something in the damp sand. Doctor figured that the access point was probably some athlete's foot on my husband's foot. Took several weeks of doctor's appts to figure out what was wrong...MD gave him antibiotics, prescription creams for athlete's foot and anything else he could think of. Nothing worked and he finally referred him to a specialist who took one look and knew instantly what it was. Had to have the medication sent from someplace in Ottawa....one pill and the worm was gone! What a resilient little creature....

[Caught]

I had one track that seemed to last forever a few years ago. It finally went away.(Or maybe crawled deep inide?)

[Caught]

Not that Wikipedia is the answer to everything but here is a link with some pictures and explanations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutaneous_larva_migrans

[rasta ronnie]

Great info Rob!

[Rob]

Cprigirl,

It seems that you are taking your husband's HIGHLY unusual reaction to the infections that he received from not treating the hookworm when he first felt the symptoms and saying things like it is "horrible you contracted it" to Jambarney. Huh? According to history, "Hookworms have infected human intestines since prehistoric times. It's only in the last two centuries that humans have discovered and come to understand them better.

Read more at Suite101: The History of Hookworms and Hookworm Disease | Suite101 http://suite101.com/article/the-hist...#ixzz2IGqV4CJv "


It has been a common, easily treatable ailment for years. Your husband obviously contracted additional infections that for whatever reason his body was not able to adequately fend off.

There is a program "Monsters Inside Me" that is meant to be an informational show - ALL HUMAN bodies possess a range of life forms inside them - many of them are needed for our daily proper health. To get rid of them would mean you would get sick.

The "by products" as your doctor mentioned can come from scratching the effected areas - adding whatever bacteria and germs on and under his fingernails to the hookworm effected areas. Hookworm cannot cause the loss of a limb, but the improper response to hookworm can cause infections that can lead to the problem. This is the same as not treating a small wound, allowing tetanus or gangrene to set in and losing the limb. It was the improper treatment that led to that outcome. Treated efficiently and correctly this is never the case.

The horse situation is something that we have all been wondering about since the practice had been stopped years ago, and then started back up. It is truly not the smartest thing. But that aside, proper treatment can and will work. You state that your husband was not able to get the meds needed - they are available here on a regular basis at all pharmacies.

And your statement "Also, if a person ingested hookworm and it was not diagnosed immediately, within days you can be near death if not caught, and yes that will result in death" is categorically false. Some people with hookworm live for years without treatment, some their entire life. You are misleading people and needlessly creating something out of nothing. What you state is simply not true. Hookworm has been around humans since humans were humans. That will not change.

It is a shame your husband had to endure what he had to endure - but presenting misleading "facts" does no one any good other than needlessly scare people. You need to do much more research.

Children in Jamaica get hookworm. While being a hassle and an un-needed expense, it is not life threatening. Please stop making it out to be something that it is not.