Recent increase of human infections with dog heart worm Dirofilaria immitis in Japan.

The human infection with Dirofilaria immitis, was reported for the first time in 1964 from a subcutaneous case, and in 1968 from a pulmonary case in Japan. Since that time, a total of human D. immitis cases amounted to 120 cases up to the first half of 1995. Among these, only one infection with D. repens was reported from a southern island of Okinawa. The parasitological aspects of these cases are reviewed along with clinical, pathological, immunological and epidemiological features.