AN ACCIDENTAL INFECTION WITH UNCINARIA 
By FRED C. CALDWELL, S.B., MJ)., 
State Director, International Health Board , Panama, Republic of Panama. 
In the course of a study of a method for the recovery of Uncinaria larvae 
from the soil, one of the employees of the laboratory became infected under 
circumstances closely simulating experimental conditions. The history of the 
case is as follows: 
On November 22, 1920, a quantity of faeces containing Uncinaria ova in 
large numbers was placed on the ground where it would be exposed to the sun 
and the rain. On December 8, many living larvae were recovered from the 
soil. These were placed in a tightly corked bottle out of the way on a high 
shelf, and all employees were warned that the specimen was not to be handled 
carelessly. 
In spite of instructions, however, on December 11, one of the men took 
the specimen to demonstrate the larvae to some friends. While he was examining 
the preparation under the microscope, the fluid ran over the edge of the slide 
and came in contact with his hand. He is accustomed to hold the slide between 
the thumb and middle finger, allowing his hand at the base of the middle finger 
to rest upon the stage of the microscope. 
Immediately after examining the specimen he became conscious of an 
intense itching at the tip of the thumb and tip and base of the middle finger. 
On the following day, December 12, the three areas were inflamed and 
swollen and contained numbers of minute bright red points. There was no 
evidence of pus. 
On December 13 the man noticed a marked tenderness under the arm in 
the region of the axillary glands. There was no evidence of lymphangitis, and 
the lesions on the hands remained the same as on the preceding day. 
On December 14 a marked bronchitis developed. The stool was found to 
be negative for Uncinaria at this date and remained so for more than a month. 
Because he had been engaged as microscopist in our hookworm campaign in 
Panama, he had examined his stool many times during the previous year for 
ova of Uncinaria, with negative results. 
The lesions on the hand had practically disappeared by December 24. 
The stool was negative on January 10, 1921, but became positive for 
Uncinaria on January 17, thirty-eight days after the infection. On Januarv 26 
the ova were increased in number. The man left the city for the interior 
on January 26. 
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