A 23-year-old male, a university student, with no morbid history, traveled to Brazil with 50 colleagues for academic reasons, in the state of Cariaba for two weeks, a small coastal town in the south of Porto Seguro
A large part of the time lay on the beach at bare feet, and bathed at the mouth of a river.
A week after returning to Chile, he presented painful brown erythematous cutaneous lesions of the pruriginous glands of 2 to 3 mm in diameter, located in the peri- orthodontic zones.
Both he and most of the group presented lesions of similar characteristics and location.
Motu proprio the patient decided to consult the infectology polyclinic of the hospital.
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Considering the characteristics of the lesions, the epidemiological history of the area visited and a literature review, the diagnosis of tungiasis was proposed, indicating surgical removal.
Before surgery, the patient handled the lesions and handed the extracted material to the treating physician.
Treatment consisted of removal and curettage of the wound bed, without local complications.
Histological examination of the excised lesions showed changes compatible with tungiasis.
The material extracted by the patient was analyzed in the parasitology laboratory of the University of Valparaiso, where it was possible to identify part of the abdomen of the arthropod and locomotor appendices and identify an egg.
Tetanus prophylaxis with toxoid was indicated and no antibacterials were used.
