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Parasitic dragon worm on man’s thigh

Yen BaiThe 45-year-old man experienced numbness in his left thigh, a small pimple-like pimple appeared, he squeezed his white head and pulled it 10 cm long, then it burst.

The patient lives in the Van Yen district, working in the fields. Numbness started 10 days ago. After popping a pimple, she found that her white head was too long, so she went to the provincial Center for Disease Control for a checkup, on November 1. The doctor examined the wound and found that there were white worms sticking out about 1 cm, removed the worms with forceps, and diagnosed the patient with dragon worm infection.

The patient said that he had eaten fish salad, blood soup, rare dishes …, for several years without deworming, incidentally. The patient was treated with high doses of deworming, and returned to the Van Yen District Health Center to continue treatment.





The dragon worm was removed by the Centers for Disease Control doctor from the patient's left thigh.  Photo: Yen Bai . Health Department

The dragon worm was removed by the Centers for Disease Control doctor from the patient’s left thigh. Photo: Yen Bai . Health Department

Doctor Tran Tuyet, of the Yen Bai Provincial Center for Disease Control, said that the dragon worm, scientifically known as dracunculus medinensis, causes disease in both humans and animals. This disease is transmitted through the digestive tract and enters the body through drinking water or food such as rare live aquatic animals (fish, frogs, frogs, shrimp…) which contain dragon caterpillar larvae. Anyone of any age can be infected, and the incidence can be as high as 60%.

This is the longest roundworm in the group of worms that infect humans, adult female worms 1-2 mm wide, about 70-120 cm long, each female worm can carry up to 3 million larvae, male worms are short. 4cm, died after mating with female worms.

Dragonworm disease has been eliminated globally by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2018, WHO has certified 199 countries, territories and territories without cases of the disease.

The disease has an incubation period of 9-14 months and develops silently, rarely causing immediate death but can be fatal due to complications of the disease such as secondary infection, cold abscess appearing at the site of death. , joint infections… spinal cord paralysis, hemiplegia due to dead worms and calcification. These complications limit the ability to study, loss of ability to work, or fatigue due to the prolonged course of the disease. According to WHO, disease is a burden of disease, an economic burden on families and communities.

Vietnam has been certified by WHO to have no cases from 1998 to 2019. In 2020, according to a report by the National Institute of Malaria – Parasites – Entomology, Vietnam detected 4 cases.

When the disease is first detected, there are usually no specific symptoms. About a year after infection, when the female worms begin to move and develop in the subcutaneous tissue, the person may have signs of a low-grade fever, dizziness, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, redness, stiffness and itching at the local worm site.

In the next few days, the swelling spurts and discharges yellow liquid, at the site of the lesion, white worms are found from the inside out (usually the worm’s head), if there is no impact, the worms will usually die on it. itself out completely after 3-6 weeks.

Some patients withdraw midway, which will cause the worm larvae and the released toxins to spread along the worm’s path, worsening the infection, more severe, can cause complications such as: sepsis, ankylosing spondylitis, abscess caused by the worm dies before expelling the larval worm or tetanus.

The doctor determines whether worms are found from the abscess or an X-ray shows calcified worms.

Doctors recommend doing good hygiene and food safety work, eating cooked, drinking boiled; Use separate utensils in processing cooked and raw foods ( cutting boards, knives, blenders, bowls, plates…) especially hand hygiene after processing raw food. Cook until cooked through when using aquatic foods (frog, fish, shrimp…), bury or grill, or sprinkle with lime powder on the intestines, heads… after processing to limit the spread of infection. Don’t let dogs and cats eat raw water food (frogs, fish, shrimp…).

Patients who are in advanced stages of the disease should not bathe, wash in ponds, lakes, or other household water sources to avoid spreading the larvae into the environment; Clean the wound, bandage the diseased skin regularly until the worms are completely removed from the body.

Thuy Quynh

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