Detection of a Lophomonas, a rare pathogen in Bronchoalveolar lavage

Abstract

Lophomonas infection is an emerging parasitic disease-causing respiratory infection. Although common in immunocompromised patient, it has been observed also in some immunocompetent cases. We report the case of a 45-year-old male who presented with productive cough, fever, and chest pain, with marked eosinophilia and cavitary lesion in the X-ray chest. KOH preparation and acid-fast bacilli microscopy of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were negative. Direct microscopic examination of BAL accidentally showed a large number of living Lophomonas species with the movement of flagella. Methylene blue and Giemsa staining showed the plume of flagella and the nucleus. The patient was managed conservatively with metronidazole and get cured. It was concluded that the patient presented with signs and symptoms of pneumonia must be evaluated for rare events also if the patient was not responding with typical management of pneumonia. We reported the first case of this rare entity in Chhattisgarh state in an immunocompetent young Indian male.

Bronchopulmonary Infection by Lophomonas blattarum: A Case Report from South India

“…Lophomonas blattarum, a multiflagellated protozoan belonging to suborder Lophomonadidae is a commensal parasite in the gut of cockroaches. 8 It can be plausibly inferred that the parasite excreted through insect feces can survive in the external environment as a cystic form for diverse periods. Consequently, anyone breathing the dust containing L. blattarum could be conveniently infected.…”

“…[1][2][3] Five cases have been reported from India so far. [3][4][5][6][7][8] To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report from South India.…”

Neglected tropical diseases

“…In the case series section, we have one article on Acanthamoeba keratitis cases[ 10 ] while the dispatch section includes an interesting case of the emerging pathogen Lophomonas blattarum reported from Chhattisgarh. [ 11 ] The other dispatch is a report of ocular enterobiasis. [ 12 ] There are two letters to the editor in this issue,[ 13 14 ] and the obituary[ 15 ] of Prof RC Mahajan, an eminent parasitologist from India whom we lost last year.…”