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Fatal case of a child harboring Enterobius vermicularis

Fatal case of a child harboring Enterobius vermicularis

Al-Shouli, Samia T., Barry, Mazin, Binkhamis, Khalifa, AlHogail, Nourah, Alafaleq, Nouf Omar, Dufailu, Osman ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8291-9832 and Aljerian, Khaldoon (2023) Fatal case of a child harboring Enterobius vermicularis. Healthcare, 11 (6):917. pp. 1-8. ISSN 2227-9032 (Online) (doi:10.3390/healthcare11060917)

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Abstract

Enterobius vermicularis is a threadlike parasite also known as “pinworms”. It is the most common helminth infection, affecting the gastrointestinal tracts of children worldwide, although it seldom causes any fatalities. Enterobius vermicularis infections are usually asymptomatic and may only cause anal pruritis, with occasional reported cases of ectopic migration into the appendix or the female genital tract by adult pinworms. Here, we report a case of a 15-year-old girl who presented to the emergency department with high-grade fever, vomiting, and vague abdominal pain for three days. She was diagnosed with acute abdominal pain and underwent emergency ileocecectomy, but died the following day. Pathological examination of ileocecal junction showed intraluminal and intramural Enterobius vermicularis, which were attributed as the cause of her death in the absence of any other pathologies. Death due to Enterobius vermicularis is rare; this case calls for clinicians to be vigilant in exploring Enterobius vermicularis infections in patients with undiagnosed acute abdominal pain, since it could be a potential cause of death.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This article belongs to the Section Critical Care.
Uncontrolled Keywords: pinworms; enterobiasis; Enterobius vermicularis; undiagnosed abdominal pain
Subjects: Q Science > Q Science (General)
Q Science > QR Microbiology
R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group: Faculty of Engineering & Science
Faculty of Engineering & Science > School of Science (SCI)
Last Modified: 31 Oct 2023 08:22
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/41740

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