Symptomatic chronic strongyloidiasis in children following treatment for solid organ malignancies : case reports and literature review

摘要

Strongyloidiasis is an infection caused by the intestinal nematode Strongyloidesstercoralis. Infected healthy individuals are usually asymptomatic, however it is potentiallyfatal in immunocompromised hosts due to its capacity to cause an overwhelminghyperinfection. Strongyloidiasis could be missed during routine screening because of low andintermittent larval output in stool and variable manifestations of the symptoms. We presenttwo cases of strongyloidiasis occurring in children with solid organ malignancies suspectedto have the infection based on their clinical conditions and treatment history for cancer. Bothpatients were diagnosed by molecular and serological tests and were successfully treated.Thus, strongyloidiasis in patients undergoing intensive treatment for malignancies should besuspected, properly investigated and treated accordingly.