I have stumbled upon this article, which write about a lady, who had infection of the parasitic worms. (helminths - stercolaris). Here is an interesting quote form the article:
The Internet Journal of Rheumatology
"Strongyloides Stercoralis Infection Presenting With Severe Malabsorption And Arthritis In An Immune Competent Host"
http://www.ispub.com/ostia/index.php?xmlFi
lePath=journals/ijrh/vol2n2/strongyloides.
xml
"Compared to protozoa, helminths such as S. stercoralis are more frequently associated with musculoskeletal involvement. This may be due to their greater antigen complexity and invasiveness [ 20 ]. The mechanism underlying the arthritis associated with S. stercoralis infection in our patient is unclear. One possibility suggested by her MRI scan is direct invasion of her joints. This is a rare event. Indeed, only one case of S. stercoralis associated arthritis reported actual presence of the organism in the joint [ 12 ]."
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12. Akoglu T, Tuncer I, Erken E, Gurcay A, Ozer FL, Ozcan K. Parasitic arthritis induced by Strongyloides stercoralis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1984;43:523-52-
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According to NIH, North American population is not not predisposed to this kind of infection. However, Reuters reports that Strongyloidiasis is caused by a threadworm that lives throughout the body and infects 68,000 to 100,000 people. It may cause a hyper-immune reaction in some people.
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisi
s/idUSN24359949
"Worms, parasites drain US poor, expert says"