Ronan Kelly
Retired 2020
Horror as tiny worms attack Victorian couple
By Lucie van den Berg From: Herald Sun July 05, 2011 12:00AM
A VICTORIAN couple endured a health nightmare after tiny worms with teeth began eating through their bodies.
It is the first time humans have been infected by the parasite in Australia.
It is believed the couple became ill after eating a fish they caught on a WA camping holiday.
Alfred hospital infectious disease physician Andrew Fuller said that when the couple ate the fish, believed to be a black bream, they also ingested the gnathostomiasis larvae.
"The worms are 1-3mm long and have got these sharp little teeth and they can go anywhere they like in the body," Dr Fuller said.
The worm works its way around the human body until it dies or is killed by the immune system.
"They move under the skin and cause itchy lumps that can make you feel sick - and it can be very hard to diagnose."
...
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/hor...le/story-e6frfkvr-1226087630215#ixzz1RAPVSGSV
By Lucie van den Berg From: Herald Sun July 05, 2011 12:00AM
A VICTORIAN couple endured a health nightmare after tiny worms with teeth began eating through their bodies.
It is the first time humans have been infected by the parasite in Australia.
It is believed the couple became ill after eating a fish they caught on a WA camping holiday.
Alfred hospital infectious disease physician Andrew Fuller said that when the couple ate the fish, believed to be a black bream, they also ingested the gnathostomiasis larvae.
"The worms are 1-3mm long and have got these sharp little teeth and they can go anywhere they like in the body," Dr Fuller said.
The worm works its way around the human body until it dies or is killed by the immune system.
"They move under the skin and cause itchy lumps that can make you feel sick - and it can be very hard to diagnose."
...
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/hor...le/story-e6frfkvr-1226087630215#ixzz1RAPVSGSV