The filarial nematode Dirofilaria repens is currently considered to be one of the most extensively spreading human and animal parasites in Europe. In Ukraine, reporting cases of dirofilariasis has been mandatory since 1975, and the disease was included in the national surveillance system for notifiable diseases. Up until December 31st 2012, a total of 1533 cases have been registered, with 1465 cases occurring within the previous 16 years. Most of the cases of dirofilariasis were registered in 6 regions: Kyiv, and the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Chernihiv oblasts. In the years 1997–2002 the highest incidence rate was noted in the Kherson oblast in the south of the country (9.79 per 100 000 people), and the lowest in western Ukraine (0.07–1.68 per 100 000 people). D. repens infections were registered in all oblasts. Parasitic lesions were most often located in the head, the subconjunctival tissue and around the eyes. D. repens lesions were also found in the limbs, torso, male sexual organs, and female mammary glands. Dirofilariasis was diagnosed in persons aged from 11 months to 90 years old, most often among people between 21–40 years of age. Most patients had only one parasitic skin lesion; the majority of isolated nematodes were female. The results of our analysis point to a constant increase in D. repens dirofilariasis incidence in humans in Ukraine. Despite educational efforts, infections have become more frequent and the territory in which the disease occurs has enlarged to encompass the whole of Ukraine. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian sanitary-epidemiological services managed to achieve some measure of success, e.g. by creating a registration system for D. repens infections and establishing proper diagnostics for the disease.

We show that using low denaturation temperatures (80-88 degrees C) during ligation mediated PCR (LM PCR) of bacterial DNA leads to the amplification of limited sets of the less stable DNA fragments. A set of electrophoretic patterns of such fragments obtained at different denaturation temperatures forms the PCR melting profile (PCR MP). A single pattern obtained for a given temperature and a set of patterns arising after application of several denaturation temperatures (PCR MP) are very specific for the given bacterial genome and may be used for strain characterisation and differentiation. The method may also be used for amplification and isolation of the less stable DNA fragments in a genome.

The first case of human dirofilarosis in Poland was recorded in 2007. Until that time our country was free of Dirofilaria repens. Recent studies show that 21,4- 60% of dogs in Warsaw region harbour microfilariae, therefore it is becoming a growing problem in Central Europe. In April 2013 a subconjunctival D. repens was removed from the eye of 61-year-old woman. It was the twenty first case of this disease in Poland, the third case of eye dirofilaria and the fourth autochtonous case. The patient had never been abroad, so it was the first case of autochtonous human ocular dirofilariosis in Poland. Nine months after the D. repens had been removed, a MALT lymphoma was discovered. In the article we discuss whether a MALT lymphoma of the lacrimal gland of the eye, previously affected by the parasite, may be the consequence of the invasion.