Dipylidium caninum is a cestode that requires from the participation of an arthropod in its life cycle. This parasitosis occurs in dogs and cats, and occasionally in human beings. Human cases of D caninum infection have been reported in Europe, Philippines, China, Japan, Latin America and the United States; mostly children, one third of them being infants under 6 months old. The diagnosis of this disease is done by the parasitological study of the feces, observing the characteristics of the gravid proglottids. The treatment is performed by administering broad-spectrum anthelmintics. The authors report a case of a rare infection in a Mexican child.

A study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nitazoxanide as a single agent for the treatment of a broad spectrum of mixed parasitic infections, both protozoa and helminths, was conducted at a primary school in San Pedro Tolimán, Querétaro, Mexico. Three faecal samples from 1824 adults and children were screened for the presence of oocysts, cysts, trophozoites, eggs or larvae of intestinal protozoa or helminths. Two hundred and forty-six adults and children infected with at least one protozoan and 2 helminths were given 7.5 mg/kg of nitazoxanide (500 mg to adults and 200 mg to children less than 12 years old) every 12 h for 3 consecutive days. Faecal samples were examined on days 6, 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15 (+/- 1) following initiation of treatment, using formalin-ether concentration and Kato-Katz egg counting. Treatment with nitazoxanide was 71-100% effective in eliminating evidence of infection with Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar, Giardia duodenalis, Blastocystis hominis, Isospora belli, Enterobius vermicularis, Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Hymenolepis nana. Haematology and clinical chemistry values obtained before and after treatment remained unaffected by nitazoxanide. The drug was well tolerated, with only 15 patients (6.1%) reporting mild abdominal pain that lasted less than 24 h.

No abstract

IgG4-related disease (IgG4RD) is a chronic recurring fibro-inflammatory pathology that is considered to be of autoimmune origin. Histopathology is considered to be the gold standard method for diagnosis. IgG4RD affects multiple organs. IgG4RD was first identified in the pancreas and was called autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP). During the following years, the disease spectrum was expanded and it was realised that the extrapancreatic lesions can precede, coexist or appear after the diagnosis of AIP. At present, several illnesses such as Mikulicz disease, Küttner tumour, multifocal fibrosclerosis, etc, are considered to be part of the IgG4RD spectrum. The symptoms of the disease tend to appear over months and years and diagnosis is achieved on average 13.5 months (4-60 months) after the onset. The purpose of this report was to provide information about a case that was sadly fatal but that permitted a complete histopathological study of the damaged tissues.