Doctors in Hawaii now have clear guidelines to diagnose and treat rat lungworm disease.

Experts say they provide much-needed guidance to quickly and properly diagnosis, treat, and manage patients who have contracted the disease.

The preliminary guidelines were developed by Gov. David Ige’s Joint Task Force on Rat Lungworm Disease, which consists of members from the medical, scientific, environmental, and public health communities.

“(Prior to this work) there were no clear, reliable diagnosis and treatment protocols available to Hawaii physicians for this potentially serious and debilitating disease,” said Dr. Vernon Ansdell, an associate professor at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine who helped craft the guidelines. He is a physician with more than 45 years of experience specializing in internal and tropical medicine.

“Diagnosing angiostrongyliasis (rat lungworm disease) can be problematic, because patients infected with the parasite do not always present the same symptoms,” Ansdell explained. “These preliminary guidelines provide critical guidance to physicians to help them make timely and accurate diagnoses and give their patients the best possible treatment available. Our next step is to offer physician training in all counties to increase awareness and understanding of this complex disease.”

Experts will be offering Continuing Medical Education courses through UH-JABSOM in all counties, starting in Hilo on Hawaii Island on Oct. 10. Courses will also be offered on Maui, Kauai, and in Honolulu in early 2019 with the schedule and more details to be announced later this year.

Click here for information on the CME courses.

The preliminary guidelines will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in November. Members will also be working to undergo the rigorous academic process to expand the preliminary guidelines and submit them for scientific peer review and official publication.

“Updating and improving the guidelines for physicians to better diagnose and treat rat lungworm disease is a major accomplishment for the Joint Task Force,” said Health Director Dr. Bruce Anderson. “We are excited to be a partner in this process and look forward to supporting this project as the guidelines move toward publication and national recognition.”

Click here to view the preliminary guidelines.