Creeping Eruptions: Beware of this Dangerous Foot Infection

When I was a kid growing up in Florida, I always went barefoot, especially if I was looking for worms for going fishing. Well, sometime you get more than you bargained for and I managed to get Creeping Eruptions. I had no idea what it was, but it itched like crazy and finally my parents took me to the doctor. It looked like a mole was running around under the surface of the bottom of my foot but in some places it was more like a blister.

It seems to be prevalent in the South and Southeast, however it is all over the country. Usually more children get it than adults do, but I know of some plumbers who got by having to crawl under a house while doing some work. This is especially nasty and painful when it gets in your back or further down, as you can imagine.

This disease is usually found in sandy, damp soil that has been contaminated by dog or cat feces. When the animals go potty in this type of soil sometimes they have animal hookworm and the eggs in their stool will hatch infecting that area. The whole area around this, then is infected with its larvae and if you even touch part of it, the larvae will dig into your skin, so going barefooted is a great way for them to get under the skin of children who love going barefooted.

This will in turn, cause intense itching and an inflammation causing scratching in the place where it gets you. It is especially itchy at night when you are trying to relax. These mole like, or snake like tracks can spread over time the more you scratch and then you have a really serious problem.

My infestations were so severe they had freeze the thing making a tunnel in my foot, several time before I got rid of it and it wasn't funny. The biggest threat of this thing is that the more someone scratches it, the more it spreads and it can cause a secondary skin problem that become badly infected as well.

They now use an anti-parasitic agents called either thiabendazole, albendazole, or Ivermectin to treat the infection of this larvae. Although it will heal sometimes and go away on its own, the ensuing time is extremely uncomfortable as it can take weeks or months. There is also a rare chance that is could spread to someone's lungs or small intestines, which is really bad. So you can imagine how uncomfortable living with this could be for that long period of time.

If you live in the South or Southeast and have a child or anyone that might have these type skin lesions, that are itchy, running around their foot in a migratory pattern or have these mole tracks, please get them to the doctor for treatment.

Wearing shoes is the best measure and with more people now worming their animals this disease is not as widely spread as it was some fifty years ago. However, it is still out there and can be in any place in the US. Precautions should be taken to avoid this disease if possible. I have heard of some folks putting a pan of kerosene next to their back door for their children to step in, but I am not sure that works. Shoes are the best possible answer even if your kids love going barefoot and if you explain what can happen to them, they will usually comply, because they won't want to go through with what I did.