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Swimmer’s itch is an inflammatory skin infection caused by the free-swimming larvae, the cercariae, of certain digenean trematodes of the family Schistosomatidae. Except in Antarctica, the disease occurs worldwide and is regarded as a reemerging disease in Europe and North America that has received both public and academic interest due to the potential severity of infections and the possible economic impact on regions with a focus on recreational water activities (Soldánová et al. 2013). In Europe and North America, the most important causative agents of swimmer’s itch are bird schistosomes of the genus Trichobilharzia with a two-host life cycle that requires both aquatic snails and waterfowl (see Horák et al. 2002 for a comprehensive review of Trichobilharzia spp.). Mammalian schistosomes of the genus Schistosomacan also cause cercarial dermatitis when infecting humans but are of more serious medical interest as causative agents of...
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References
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Soldanova M, Selbach C, Sures B, Kostadinova A, Perez-Del-Olmo A (2010) Larval trematode communities in Radix auricularia and Lymnaea stagnalis in a reservoir system of the Ruhr River. Parasit Vectors 3:56
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Selbach, C., Sures, B. (2015). Swimmer’s Itch. In: Mehlhorn, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parasitology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_3501-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27769-6_3501-1
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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