NORTH KOREA: GRUESOME
FACTS ABOUT ROUNDWORM—THE PARASITE THAT CAN GROW TWO FEET AND LIVE INSIDE YOU
FOR YEARS
BY KATE
SHERIDAN ON 11/16/17 AT 11:20 AM
A North Korean defector was shot crossing the
country’s border with South Korea and his doctors discovered many, many
parasites inside him. But if he hadn’t been shot, it’s possible one particular
type of worm—a roundworm—could have continued to live inside of him and grow
without any signs that something was wrong.
Based on information
in the Korea Biomedical Review, one
particular parasite that infected the defector may be Ascaris lumbricoides, a roundworm that is rarely found
in the United States.
The worm described is
about the right size for Ascaris—ten inches
is within the worm’s typical length, which can reach up to 19 inches. The Review reported that the worm was spread through
plants fertilized with human feces, which is also typical for Ascaris. The patient seemed to be suffering from
malnutrition—also something that can occur as a result of
becoming infected with this worm. And Ascaris is more
often found in tropical climates, according to information from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention’s website on
the worm, which would explain Korean doctors’ surprise when they found it.
"I have been
doing surgery for more than 20 years, but I have not seen such parasites. I
will not be able to find them in [South] Korea," Dr. Lee Guk-jong, the
surgeon who operated on the patient, told the Review .
Ascaris worms may be living in
up to 1 billion people. This particular infection blocked the intestine of a
3-year-old boy, who survived.SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL VIA
FLICKR
The worms live in a person’s intestine, but
they don’t stay there. After hatching from an egg, an immature worm can move
into a person’s bloodstream and go to the lungs and stomach.
About one billion
people in the world may be infected with Ascaris, and roundworm
infections as a whole are even more common. Other roundworms includes whipworm
and hookworm, as well as one type found in pet poop.
Ascaris infections can be nearly undetectable.
According to the CDC’s website, people who are infected may have no symptoms
until there are a profuse amount of the worms. Some of the symptoms that can
happen are relatively subtle; worms can be found in a person's poop, and an infected
person might have stomach pain or a cough.
Roundworms can be
resilient; according to Medline Plus, Ascaris eggs can live for 10 to 24 months.
Thankfully, there are treatments that will kill them; three drugs are commonly
used for this purpose, according to the UK's NHS.
Unfortunately for the
North Korean defector, however, the parasites are making his recovery more
difficult; Lee told the Review that the
doctors are "struggling with treatment" and that the worms are eating
the wounded areas.
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