title: Human otoacariasis: a retrospective study from an area of Sri Lanka.
abstract: Intra-aural ticks were present in 870 (15.2%) of 5714 patients who reported with ear-related complaints to the ear, nose and throat ward at Ratnapura Hospital, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, from January 2000 to December 2001. A retrospective study of 383 of these otoacariasis cases showed that the majority (70.8%) of surgically-removed ticks were nymphal Amblyomma integrum, together with nymphal and adult Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides, R. sanguineus, Hyalomma brevipunctata, H. marginatum, and unidentified (damaged) ticks (collectively, 29.2%). Tick infestations peaked during the period November-February. More female than male patients reported with otoacariasis, and more children (aged 0-10 years) and adults (aged >/=21 years) than adolescents. There was no evidence of age-dependent differences in infestation among male and female patients. The tick-infested cases were widespread, spanning 75 km on a north-south axis and 55 km on an east-west axis within Sabaragamuwa Province. The present report represents the largest episode of human otoacariasis recorded in the literature, and may be indicative of a wider, but little-reported, human tick problem in Sri Lanka.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
authors.forename: P R M P
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Dilrukshi
authors.forename: A D K S N
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Yasawardene
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Amerasinghe
authors.forename: F P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Amerasinghe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000820:Animal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008924:Mite Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary