Lung eosinophilia is infiltration of eosinophils into the lung compartments constituting airways, interstitium, and alveoli.
Several different types of infections, drugs, parasites, autoimmune processes, malignancies, and obstructive lung diseases have been associated with increased eosinophils in the lungs.
Symptoms of eosinophilia can include weight loss, fevers, night sweats, fatigue, cough, chest pain, swelling, stomachache, rash, pain, weakness, confusion, and coma.
Additional symptoms of this syndrome depend on which organs are damaged.
Processes known to cause modest eosinophilia include allergic disease, parasitic disease, drug allergy, and mastocytosis.
More significant eosinophilia is often caused by drug allergy, aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease, sustained and significant atopic dermatitis, and some parasitic disorders.
Parasites and allergies to medicines are common causes of eosinophilia.
Hypereosinophilia can cause organ damage.
This is called hypereosinophilic syndrome.
The cause for this syndrome is often unknown.
Over 500 eosinophils per microliter of blood is thought to be eosinophilia in adults.
Over 1,500 is thought to be hypereosinophilia if the count remains high for many months.
Eosinophilia is uncommon in healthy individuals, however, it is associated with allergies, helminth infections and some inflammatory states.
Eosinophilia has also been observed in cancer, including colorectal, breast, ovarian, cervical, oral squamous, Hodgkin's lymphoma and prostate cancer.