The x-ray shows a couple of centimeters long parasitic worm. The parasitic worm was said to have been found inside the man’s foot and doctors claimed that the worm had been there for years!
The doctors in Melbourne claimed that what they’ve found was an African guinea worm which was in two pieces. When the man visited their clinic because of the abscess on his foot, they thought that the worm had already died.
Although this worm isn’t infectious at all, the doctors claimed that it still has its unique way in spreading the condition. Once the worm is inside the body, the parasite’s larvae – Dracunculiasis medinensis – burrow into the stomach, causing the victim’s foot to burn intensely!
Infectious diseases expert Dr Jonathan Darby explains: “People want to put their feet into water to relieve the pain.
“It uses that trick to release larvae in the water, which turns into water fleas that are then ingested by people drinking unsafe water.”
The larvae then developed into a fully-grown worm that burrowed through the intestines and down to his legs where they try to emerge through the skin, causing the victim to suffer from blisters or ulcers.
The 38-year-old victim was said to have moved to Australia from Sudan four years ago.
The worm was typically found in Southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Ghana and Chad, and the doctors at the St. Vincent’s hospital claims that the worm had been inside him for years!
“That whole process can take years. It can sit inside the human body alive for years or die, degenerate, and then cause problems in the area like it did for our patient,” Dr Darby told the Sydney Morning Herald.
He then revealed that in some countries, live worms are being pulled out from people’s exit wounds over days or weeks. The process can be pretty disturbing!
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