Subcutaneous dirofilariosis in South-East Serbia - Case report

Impacts • The dog parasites Dirofilaria immitis and Dirofilaria repens, well known as zoonotic agents, are widely distributed in southern Europe. In humans, D. repens causes abortive infections or inflammatory nodule mostly located in subcutaneous/submucosal tissue, whereas D. immitis usually causes pulmonary nodules or small calcified pulmonary granulomas. • The identification of the agent of human infections (often immature specimens) was based on the morphological study (in toto or in histological sections) of surgically removed specimens. Molecular diagnostics based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) carried out with specific primers have been developed, which allow the detection and identification of any developmental stage of D. repens and D. immitis. • Human dirofilarioses occur more frequently than reported in literature as many cases are not diagnosed or published, and other cases recover spontaneously without medical intervention.