RARE PARASITOSES IN OUR OPHTHALMIC PRACTICE

Abstract

The term parasite is a word originating from Greek language and it means someone who feeds from others’ table. Humans are hosts to nearly 300 species of parasitic worms and over 70 species of protozoa. Tasks and goals - to make a retrospective analysis of rare cases of eye parasitoses in our practice. Materials and methods - patients were investigated for the period of 15 years in Eye Clinic „St. Nikolay“-Varna. The clinical cases noted concern eye diseases caused by Dirofilaria, Thelazia and Demodex. Results - for 15 years time, from 2008 to 2023 these has been one case of Dirofilaria of the eyelid, one case of Thelazia of the conjunctiva and Demodex-blepharitis in 6 patients. All of them had no reported travel abroad or contact with exotic animals. In Bulgaria, apart from our case with Thelasia, no similar case has been described, especially for such a small baby. In the case of demodex-blepharitis, we consider it a disadvantage that we have not referred our patients for parasitological examination more often. Conclusion - Cases in humans with parasites with ocular localization are relatively rare, but aren’t casuistry. We should search for them actively and think of differential diagnosis.

Keywords

• ocular parasitoses
• thelasia
• dirofilaria
• demodexosis