Larry & Sharon woke up this morning in a big, soft bed at Kendwa Breezes, Nungwi, BUT it was not just the two of them in bed this morning...!!!! Larry must have been scared of getting lonely up in Africa, so he brought a little friend with - all the way from Mozambique!!
This dear friend cause severe itching & burning!
Treatment include dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) and high doses of Mebendazole. So Larry put his worm to sleep with some topical ice and they will get medicine tomorrow.
Larry's "friend" working his way round his foot.
It is call sandworm but also called creeping eruption or cutaneous larva migrans. Sandworm is caused by the larvae of the dog and cat hookworm , Ancylostoma Brasiliense. The eggs found in dog or cat poo hatch in warm, shady, moist, sandy soil. (Now I understand why dogs are banned on many beaches)
When you walk barefoot on the sand, the larva quickly enters the skin. It travels around under the surface of the skin and leaves behind a raised blister like track. The larva migrates 2mm to 2cm per day. The actual larva is usually 1-2cm further than the track. The larva cannot penetrate into deeper layers of human skin and roams around until it dies, which can take anything form a couple of weeks to a year. The itching and the redness are caused by an allergic response of the person to the larva or its by-products.
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