Pulmonary paragonimiasis in an immigrant from Laos

A chest X-ray film, taken in a refugee camp in Thailand six months before a 25-year-old Laotian farmer arrived in Australia, demonstrated lesions which were assumed to be tubercular. Despite antituberculous chemotherapy, the lesions continued to grow. On the man's arrival in Australia, cytological examination of bronchial washings showed the presence of numerous Paragonimus ova, and the patient received treatment with praziquantel. Paragonimiasis should be suspected in a Southeast-Asian refugee who presents with a pulmonary lesion which is similar to that of tuberculosis.