Cercarial dermatitis

Background

Life-cycle of swimmers itch.

• Also known as "Swimmer's itch"
• Skin exposed to freshwater schistosomes or coastal water clam diggers itch
• Cercaria (non-human schistisomes)
• Not be confused with Seabather's eruption (caused by the larval stage of cnidarians (e.g., jellyfish))

Dermatitis Types

• Atopic dermatitis
• Candida dermatitis
• Cercarial dermatitis
• Contact dermatitis
  • Poison Oak, Ivy, Sumac dermatitis
• Dermatitis herpetiformis
• Diaper dermatitis
• Dyshidrotic dermatitis
• Neonatal seborrhoeic dermatitis
• Nummular dermatitis
• Perianal streptococcal dermatitis
• Perioral dermatitis
• Seborrheic dermatitis
• Stasis dermatitis

Clinical Features

Cercarial dermatitis on lower legs, four days after spending a day in the shallows of a lake.

• Occurs on the exposed skin outside of close-fitting garments
  • Versus Seabather's eruption, which is generally under the garments worn by bathers and swimmers (where the organisms are trapped after the person leaves the water)

Differential Diagnosis

Travel-related skin conditions

• Papules
  • Insect bites
  • Scabies
  • Seabather's eruption
  • Cercarial dermatitis (Swimmer's Itch)
• Macular
  • Chikungunya
• Sub Q Swelling and Nodules
  • Myiasis
  • Tungiasis
  • Loa loa
  • African Trypanosomiasis
  • Onchocerciasis
• Ulcers
  • Tropical pyoderma
  • Leishmaniasis
  • Mycobacterium marinum
  • Buruli ulcer
  • Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm disease)
• Linear and Migratory Lesions
  • Cutaneous larvae migrans
  • Photodermatitis

See also domestic U.S. ectoparasites

Evaluation

• Typically a clinical diagnosis

Management

• Supportive
  • Antihistamines for pruritus
  • +/- topical corticosteroids

See Also

• Parasitic Diseases
• Travel Medicine