Otranto Domenico, Dantas-Torres Filipe
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Bari, Valenzano, Bari, Italy.
Department of Immunology, Centro de Pesquisas Aggeu Magalhães, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, 50740465, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
Parasit Vectors. 2015 May 14;8:273. doi: 10.1186/s13071-015-0881-7.
Thelazia callipaeda is transmitted by Phortica variegata, a drosophilid that feeds on lachrymal secretions of mammals. Scientific information on human thelaziosis is still relatively limited, mainly for physicians and ophthalmologists. Indeed, the literature is full of misleading information on the transmission of T. callipaeda to humans.
A recent paper reported a case of human intraocular infestation in a patient from Karnataka. The information presented in that article as well as in other articles in the international literature is outdated and incorrect in several instances, mostly regarding to the localization of T. callipaeda in the host, its biology and routes of transmission.
Physicians and ophthalmologists should be aware that T. callipaeda is larviparous and transmitted exclusively by secretophagous flies. These flies buzz around the eyes of animals and humans at the daytime, landing on the eyes and releasing the infective larvae on the host conjunctiva. That is the only possible way of transmission of T. callipaeda.
结膜吸吮线虫由嗜人瘤蝇传播，嗜人瘤蝇以哺乳动物的泪液分泌物为食。关于人类眼虫病的科学信息仍然相对有限，主要面向内科医生和眼科医生。事实上，文献中充斥着关于结膜吸吮线虫传播给人类的误导性信息。
最近一篇论文报道了一名来自卡纳塔克邦患者的人类眼内感染病例。该文章以及国际文献中其他文章所呈现的信息在几个方面过时且不正确，主要涉及结膜吸吮线虫在宿主体内的定位、其生物学特性和传播途径。
内科医生和眼科医生应意识到结膜吸吮线虫是卵胎生的，且仅由食分泌物的苍蝇传播。这些苍蝇在白天围绕动物和人类的眼睛嗡嗡飞舞，落在眼睛上并将感染性幼虫释放到宿主结膜上。这是结膜吸吮线虫唯一可能的传播方式。
