PHYLCTENULAR EYE DISEASE IN ASSOCIATION WITH HYMENOLEPIS-NANA IN EGYPT

It had been previously noticed that infection with parasites was common in children suffering from phlyctenulosis. In the present study the stools of 471 patients suffering from phlyctenular disease were examined and it was found that 62·6% of them had Hymenolepis nana ova in their stools as compared with 10·8% of the controls. All patients had Hymenolepis nana immune sera. Many of these patients had abdominal symptoms. Hymenolepis nana is a cestode parasite discovered by Bilharz in Cairo in 1851. Infections with it have the same age incidence and geographical distribution as phlyctenular eye disease. It has a tissue stage responsible for a state of hypersensitivity which is thought to be responsible for the phlyctenules.