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Cutaneous Larva Migrans

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Encyclopedia of Parasitology
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Cutaneous larva migrans is caused by hookworms mainly of dogs and cats. The itching dermatitis often takes the form of tracks or “ creeping eruption” indicating the route of migration of the larvae in the epidermis of the skin. These papular and serpiginous lesions sometimes become vesicular and hemorrhagic and are often secondarily infected with bacteria after scratching. These larvae never mature into adults, to live in the intestine, but will die within 3 months at the latest (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Human arm with wandering larvae of Ancylostoma caninum

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Correspondence to Heinz Mehlhorn .

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Mehlhorn, H. (2015). Cutaneous Larva Migrans. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_765-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_765-2

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