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Sand flea is one of the few fleas found on humans. It causes a very unpleasant parasitic disease - tungosis. Untreated tungosis can cause very serious complications. See where the sand flea is most common and how exactly it's infected.

Sand flea( Tunga penetrans ) is the smallest type of flea - its size does not exceed1 mm. Both male and female feed on human blood. What's worse - they can gnaw human skin and lay eggs on it, from which the larvae then develop. Sand flea disease istungosis .

Sand flea - characteristic

The sand flea is the only species, next to the human flea, that feeds on humans, but due to the lack of a favorite host, it also lives on dogs, cats, pigs and rats. Like all fleas, it has a flattened body, chitinous armor and very well-developed legs, thanks to which it can jump up to20 cmand a distance of up to1 m! It moves at the speed of1 m / s . He has astabbing-sucking mouthpiecewith which he bites into the skin at regular intervals. He is able to drink blood for approximately 2 hours.

Sand flea - where is it?

Sand flea lives intropical and subtropical regions of the world- incl. in Central and South America, the Caribbean, India and Africa. Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago have had the most cases of this disease for a long time. In the poorest African countries, the prevalence of this disease ranges from15 to as much as 50% .

As the name suggests, the sand flea is particularly fond of dry,sandy soils . She can also be found on beaches, near stables, piggeries and barns, as well as in houses with a low level of hygiene. This host flea species can live up to1.5 years , without access to blood, it can live up to4 months .

Sand flea - how do you get infected?

Infection occurs when a female sand flea bites through human skin - then it finds its way into thestratum corneum ,showing only the abdomen. Thus, it is able to breathe, excrete and even reproduce. Its smell most likely attracts a male that is able to fertilize her. Waiting for fertilization can takefrom 2 to 21 days , then the female lays eggs in the human skin, increasing her volume up to2000 times . You can submit them even at a timeseveral hundred .

A pink lumpappears at the start of the larva where the larva is located, and you may not even notice it. Over time, the delicate spot transforms into a largewhite lumpprotruding above the skin, with a characteristic dot in the middle. Removal of the flea should be done at this stage (preferably with tweezers). If this does not happen, larvae hatch from the eggs and feed on female faeces and skin fragments, thus damaging the tissues. After some time, the female dies.

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Tungosis - symptoms

Tungosisis an infectious skin disease caused by a sand flea. It is not difficult to get infected, especially when you stay in endemic regions of this disease (mainly Nigeria and Trinidad and Tobago in Africa). Due to the limited mobility of these insects, tungosis usually develops on the legs (mainly on the feet) of a person, sometimes also on the hands and around the genitals. The disease most often affects children who walk without shoes.

The main symptoms of tunnosis are:

  • severe itching
  • skin wounds with black dots inside
  • pain
  • swelling and ulceration
  • dermatitis
  • black nails
  • dark skin changes
  • anxiety and fear
  • lack of appetite, losing weight

In extreme cases, when dozens of fleas infest the limbs, the patient has difficulty moving, may also develop sepsis, or even spontaneous amputation of the fingers.

Tungosis - treatment

Tungiasis is diagnosed on the basis of a clinical trial that includes a history of travel to the tropics.

A flea is surgically removed under sterile conditions (preferably with tweezers), but you can also use a plaster. After sticking, the flea cannot breathe and it gently slides out, thus sticking to the patch.

The most important thing about this disease is to prevent it: preserve itproper hygiene, wearing shoes, avoiding rolling in the sand in areas at risk of tungosis, as well as using anti-flea preparations.

In the course of tungoosis, the most dangerous aresecondary bacterial infections , which can occur due to massive invasion of these insects, such as: bacteremia, tetanus and gas gangrene (gangrene).

Fortunately, tungiasis is a self-limiting disease - it usually resolves after4-6 weeks(unless infection is present, of course), but it tends to recur.

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Category:

Infectious diseases