An unsuspected cause of diarrhoea and gastrointestinal bleeding during corticosteroid therapy.

We report on a fatal case of disseminated strongyloidiasis during corticosteroid treatment presenting with abdominal pain, diarrhoea and lower gastrointestinal bleeding. The patient emigrated from Thailand 16 years before the current hospitalisation. Complicated strongyloidiasis is a relatively unrecognized complication of corticosteroid therapy in non-endemic areas. In individuals who have resided in endemic areas, even decades before treatment, strongyloidiasis should be excluded before initiation of immunosuppressants.