[Recurrent, itching and creeping skin lesions in (former) travellers to the tropics: strongyloidiasis].

Two patients, a woman aged 24 and a man aged 86, had suffered from recurrent, itchy, linear, creeping skin lesions, notably on the thighs, buttocks and lower abdomen, for 9 months and more than 50 years, respectively. The woman had been in South America, and the man had worked on the Burma railway as a prisoner of war during World War II. In both patients 'larva currens' was observed. The clinical diagnosis of 'strongyloidiasis' was supported by eosinophilia and raised antibody titres against Strongyloides stercoralis in the blood. No larvae could be detected in either patient. Treatment with albendazole, and ivermectin, respectively, resulted in disappearance of the complaints. S. stercoralis is found in many parts of the world. In the Netherlands the major risk groups in which strongyloidiasis should be considered are people from, and visitors to, South-America (Surinam) and South-East Asia (Indonesia, former prisoners of war).