Parasite infections stimulate total and specific IgE production. In the case of Toxocara, Canis infection increased total and specific IgE production corresponds to chronic allergic symptoms. There are chances that some other infections that have similar symptoms, such as Ascaris lumbricoides infection. Ascaris lumbricoides are characterized by a large nematode that causes a number of symptoms including abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, bloating, anorexia, and intermittent diarrhea. Patients that have ascariasis and high IgE levels may also have allergy-like symptoms such as asthma, urticaria, and atopic dermatitis.
This study reports a case of atopic dermatitis caused by Ascaris lumbricoides which shows the important role of parasitic infection in patients with long-lasting dermatitis. She was a 12-year old female who was suffering since early infancy from atopic dermatitis and asthma. Her treatment was done for dermatitis with oral betamethasone and topical pimecrolimus with little benefit. The patient showed progressive improvement of symptoms after two cycles of mebendazole therapy.
The study concluded through its findings that in patients with dermatitis, Ascaris lumbricoides infection should be not excluded: adequate anthelmintic treatment may result in complete regression from the disease.
Reference: https://clinicalmolecularallergy.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12948-018-0088-5
