Mansee Desai, M4, recently traveled to Chicago to present research at the 2018 Society of General Internal Medicine Midwest Regional Meeting.
She contributed this report:
I’ve been lucky enough to be mentored by Joseph P. Myers, M.D., professor of internal medicine. My interests lie at the nexus of dermatology and infectious disease, so I recently worked with Dr. Myers on a rare case of tungiasis. This case has led to poster and oral presentations, along with a co-authored manuscript that was accepted for publication in the Journal of Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice. I most recently presented this case at the Society of General Internal Medicine Midwest Regional Meeting in Chicago.
Tungiasis is an infestation caused by the parasite Tunga penetrans and is usually acquired and diagnosed in South or Central America. Dr. Myers and I came across a case that was acquired after travel to Florida and complicated by late secondary bacterial infection, which was diagnosed in Ohio. Infection is caused by penetration of the female sand flea into the epidermis of the animal host. The flea then undergoes a complex five-stage developmental sequence with varying degrees of host inflammatory response to each stage. Untreated tungiasis is also a risk factor for tetanus acquisition in unvaccinated populations.