title: Eosinophilic meningitis. An unusual cause of headache.
abstract: Human parasitic infections are uncommon outside the tropical north but common in animals throughout Australia. The rat lung worm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, can invade the human brain to cause a chronic meningitis with prolonged headache. This condition can be diagnosed by finding a high eosinophil count in cerebrospinal fluid (CFS), the lumbar puncture also provides symptomatic relief. The outcome is usually benign but death has been reported.
authors.affiliation: Nambour General Hospital, Queensland.
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Pinn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017185:Angiostrongylus cantonensis / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000469:parasitology; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004802:Eosinophilia / Q000469:parasitology*; D006261:Headache / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008297:Male; D008581:Meningitis / Q000209:etiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D051381:Rats; D017206:Strongylida Infections / Q000150:complications*