Tungiasis is a disease closely related to poverty, as it mainly affects those who walk barefoot and live in unpaved areas with poor garbage collection.
Tungiasis is a disease caused by blood-sucking fleas, that is, parasites that feed on blood. In particular by the Tunga penetrans species , although cases associated with Tunga trimamillata have also been reported .
This type of insect is colloquially known with colloquial names such as “chigger, chique, chica, chigoe”, among others.
The parasite is native to America and from there it has spread to other areas of the world. Currently, the endemic areas of this flea are Latin America, the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Zanzibar, the Seychelles, the west coast of India, Pakistan and Oceania.
As the scientific literature indicates, “as a consequence of immigration and increased travel to tropical destinations, the incidence of tungiasis outside endemic areas increased, which constitutes a diagnostic challenge.” Let’s see more below.
What is tungiasis?
As we have been commenting, tungiasis occurs when a flea of the aforementioned species penetrates the skin of a warm-blooded organism, such as a human being or a pet.
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