Urinary Canthariasis Due to Tenebrio molitor Larva in a Ten-Year-Old Boy

• Main Authors: Mohammad Hassan Aelami, Alireza Khooei, Hamidreza Ghorbani, Farrokh Seilanian-Toosi, Elham Poustchi, Bibi Razieh Hosseini-Farash, Elham Moghaddas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2019-08-01
• Series: Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases
• Subjects: Canthariasis; Bladder; Human; Child
• Online Access: https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/1211
• ISSN: 1735-7179; 2322-2271

Canthariasis is a human disease caused by infestation of beetle larvae. We report here an unusual cause of urogenital in­fection due to Tenebrio molitor in a 10-year-old boy suffering from severe and intermittent suprapubic pain from Nehban­dan City, Northeastern Iran in 2018. After 9 months, three larvae were excreted. Keratinization of bladder wall was ob­served in histopathology. All laboratory evaluations were normal except for presence of microscopic hematuria. This re­port implicated that T. molitor could infest bladder accidentally and cause canthariasis and clinical symptoms that may lead to severe pain and bladder inflammation and hyperemia.