title: Tungiasis: a poorly documented tropical dermatosis.
abstract: Tungiasis is the parasitic skin disease caused by the sand flea Tunga penetrans, also called the jigger flea, found in most intertropical countries. The contamination occurs when walking barefoot in the sand: adult females actively burrow the foot epidermis leading to self-limited lesions responsible for itching or pain. The diagnosis is made on clinical observation and history of travelling to an endemic country. The simple treatment is surgical extraction of the flea.
authors.affiliation: Service de maladies infectieuses et tropicales, CHU Nantes, 1 place Alexis-Ricordeau, Nantes cedex 1, France. lefebvremaeva@gmail.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lefebvre
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Capito
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Durant
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hervier
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Grossi
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005533:Foot Dermatoses / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014329:Tropical Climate; D058253:Tunga / Q000502:physiology; D058285:Tungiasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000601:surgery / Q000635:transmission; D014946:Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control