Heartworm in people
Heartworm is an important problem in dogs. It's a parasitic disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis and is spread by mosquitoes. It can cause serious, even fatal disease, and routine testing and preventive medication is an important thing for dogs in areas where D. immitis is present. Dogs (wild and domestic) are the natural host for this parasite, but other species can be accidentally infected, including people and cats. People become infected by being bitten by a mosquito that is carrying the parasite, having acquired it from an infected dog. Human infections seem to be quite uncommon and, interestingly, while this is a serious problem in dogs, it tends to be rather innocuous in people. In fact, the biggest problem with heartworm infection in people is the fact that it can be confused with other, more serious problems, leading to invasive testing.
After infecting someone, D. immitis works its way to the blood vessels in the lungs. This can result in a small area of inflamed tissue in the area. If a chest x-ray is taken, a "coin lesion" (a small, usually 1-3 cm spot) is often present. The parasite infection usually doesn't cause any problems in people, but lung cancer and tuberculosis can look the same on x-rays. Usually, open-chest surgery ends up being performed to get a biopsy of the area because of the concerns about cancer. In heartworm cases,the biopsy identifies the problem as D. immitis, which is much better than cancer, but the risks associated with having undergone such an invasive procedure are much greater than that of the parasitic infection itself.
Typically, treatment is not recommended in people because the infection rarely causes problems and people are "dead end" hosts, meaning they cannot pass on the infection. (Unlike in dogs, infected people don't have the parasite microfilaria in their blood, which is how the infection is passed on to mosquitoes and other animals).
Heartworm is a rare and rather innocuous problem in humans - it's nothing to lose sleep about.
Image: A diagram of a very severe case of heartworm in a dog, in which there are so many worms in the pulmonary arteries that there is "back-up" of the parasites into the right side of the heart, which is how the parasite got its common name.
Alternative heartworm treatments
Here's a recent question:
"We have a 'new' boxer age 2. The breeder believes in the raw food diet, and not many vaccinations or preventitive treatments. Recently the boxer has been shown to be heartworm positive, and she (the breeder) wants us to take a "holistic" approach to management. Are there any randomized trials to show any benefit to holistic treatment of heartworm?"
The quick answer is NO. There are no “holistic” treatments that have been shown to be effective in randomized trials, nor have any holistic treatments been shown to have any potential effect in in vitro studies. The only proven treatments are “conventional.” I consider it highly unethical to attempt other approaches because: 1) heartworm is a serious disease but one that can often be treated quite successfully and 2) untreated (or inadequately treated) dogs put other dogs at risk because they are sources of infection. Mosquitoes can transmit heartworm from infected dogs to other dogs in the area, and continue the cycle of infection. A serious and transmissible disease is not one for which unproven and likely ineffective treatments should be tried.
Heartworm is a potentially fatal disease that predominantly affects dogs, but can occasionally affect cats as well. It is most commonly caused by the parasite Dirofilaria immitis. It is spread by mosquitoes, which transmit the immature form of the parasite (microfilaria) which are found in the blood of infected animals. Upon being transmitted to a new host by a bite from an infected mosquito, the immature parasites eventually develop into adult worms. These worms lodge in the heart and the nearby blood vessels going to the lungs, and can cause a range of problems (e.g. lethargy, intolerance to exercise). Infection can be fatal - early (and effective) treatment is the key.
