Human subcutaneous dirofilariasis in India: A report of three cases with brief review of literature

Human subcutaneous dirofilariasis is a rare infection caused by filarial worms of the genus Dirofilaria. The parasites are transmitted to man by mosquitoes and the infection is manifested as subcutaneous nodules. Excision of the lesion is both diagnostic and therapeutic. Hereby we report three cases of human subcutaneous dirofilariasis. The worms were sent to our department for identification over a period of four years (2006-2009). Of these three patients, two men and one woman were between 15 and 45 years of age. In two cases, the infection manifested as a nodule on face, in one case near lower eyelid and in the other on the cheek, while in the third case as an itchy nodule on the abdomen. It is emphasized that both clinicians and microbiologists should have an increased awareness of this entity and include dirofilariasis in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with subcutaneous nodules