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Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (human parasites, with some pictures)
The BBC ^ | Tuesday, 25 November, 2003, 12:54 GMT | BBC Story Monkey

Posted on 11/26/2003 7:38:18 AM PST by alnitak

When Tanya Andrews returned from a recent family holiday in Costa Rica, she had no idea she had brought back a gruesome souvenir.

A month later she developed an extremely painful lump on her head.

At first, she thought she had an abscess, but then it wriggled.

At the Hospital for Tropical Diseases they recognised the problem straight away - it was the living maggot larva of a botfly.

While Tanya was enjoying her holiday a mosquito had delivered a tiny botfly egg onto the surface of her scalp.

The egg hatched into a maggot and burrowed deep inside. Incredibly, this happens to thousands of people every year.

As we travel to ever more exotic holiday destinations, we are at the mercy of a whole range of bizarre parasites just waiting to colonise us.

Strange nosebleeds

I swear it had two beady eyes on it.


Broughton Coburn

Soon after travel writer, Broughton Coburn, returned from Nepal he began to experience regular, inexplicable nosebleeds.

They continued for three weeks until an embarrassing encounter in a teashop made him realise that something was seriously wrong.

As he was being served, the waiter took one look at him and fled in horror.

Broughton chased him down the street urging him to tell him what was wrong. But the boy would only point, wordlessly, at his nose.

Broughton returned home and sat in trepidation in front of a mirror.

Aquatic leech
A thirsty aquatic leech

His patience was rewarded when a brown worm-like creature emerged from his right nostril and looked around.

"I swear it had two beady eyes on it. And it came out two or three inches, looked around and then retracted. I thought it was a dream, a vision of some sort."

In shock, Broughton rushed off to his doctor who tried to remove the mysterious creature.

But it wasn't going to give up its home easily.

"He had this thing pulled out eight or ten inches and I'm looking at it cross-eyed down the end of my nose, and he's looking at it, he has a look of absolute horror on his face. And the thing came off. And there was this leech."

Broughton had been invaded by an aquatic leech. It made its move while he was drinking from a mountain stream.

These thirsty bloodsuckers can drink three times their bodyweight at each feed and inject an anaesthetic so their victim feels nothing.

Welcome visitor

Tapeworm cyst on a piece of meat
The tapeworm cyst that Dr Leahy ate

But not all parasites are unwanted and uninvited.

As part of a University of Salford experiment to develop a diagnostic test for beef tapeworm, biologist Mike Leahy volunteered to grow this gruesome parasite inside his own gut.

Mike swallowed the immature tapeworm cyst with a glass of red wine and the worm subsequently grew at an astonishing four centimetres a week.

Twelve weeks later he had to call a halt to the unusual experiment because he was getting married!

After a dose of anti-worm pill Mike passed out an intact, six foot long tapeworm.

Disgusted? Well according to Dr Val Curtis, an expert on hygiene, this reaction is a natural survival mechanism.

"In the same way that you have an immune system which helps to protect you from parasites we also have a behavioural system.

"When you feel the emotion of disgust it is a driver of your behaviour to make you keep away from or drop the thing that might be about to make you sick."

And, it seems, we need all the protection we can get. Every living thing has at least one parasite and many creatures, including humans, have far more.

In fact, parasites make up the majority of species on Earth.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Miscellaneous; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: body; diseases; health; infections; leeches; lice; parasites; tapeworm; tropical
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There I was, taking a little break while I try to figure out a difficult SQL query, when I came across this charming article. Try a google search for Dracunculiasis OR "Guinea Worm" for more...

As he was being served, the waiter took one look at him and fled in horror.

Broughton chased him down the street urging him to tell him what was wrong. But the boy would only point, wordlessly, at his nose.

Broughton returned home and sat in trepidation in front of a mirror.

His patience was rewarded when a brown worm-like creature emerged from his right nostril and looked around.

"I swear it had two beady eyes on it. And it came out two or three inches, looked around and then retracted. I thought it was a dream, a vision of some sort."

1 posted on 11/26/2003 7:38:19 AM PST by alnitak
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To: alnitak
I'll be thinking of you tomorrow, but not fondly.
2 posted on 11/26/2003 7:39:27 AM PST by js1138
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To: alnitak
I've heard about the botfly before, and tapeworms, of course, but the aquatic leech, that's a new one for me. Great article. Well, gotta get some breakfast.
3 posted on 11/26/2003 7:43:04 AM PST by TheDon
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To: alnitak
Yummy, just in time for Thanksgiving. Thanks!
4 posted on 11/26/2003 7:44:42 AM PST by finnman69 (cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos)
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To: alnitak
"I swear it had two beady eyes on it. And it came out two or three inches, looked around and then retracted. I thought it was a dream, a vision of some sort."

I have the same reaction when I see Dennis Kucinic.

5 posted on 11/26/2003 7:45:13 AM PST by blau993 (Labs for love; .357 for Security.)
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To: TheDon
GRRRRrrrOSS!
6 posted on 11/26/2003 7:46:17 AM PST by AmericanInTokyo (NORTH KOREA is a DANGEROUS CANCER in late stages; we still only meditate and take herbal medicines)
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To: js1138
LOL!!!!!!
7 posted on 11/26/2003 7:46:58 AM PST by Bikers4Bush
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To: blau993
I have the same reaction when I see Dennis Kucinic

Bwahahahahah!!!

8 posted on 11/26/2003 7:47:43 AM PST by AngryJawa ("The bang is great, but the shockwave is where it’s at.")
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To: alnitak
This does not add up:

the worm subsequently grew at an astonishing four centimetres a week... Twelve weeks later... Mike passed out an intact, six foot long tapeworm.

At four centimeters per week, after 12 weeks the worm would be 48 centimeters. That's only about 19 inches, not six feet.

9 posted on 11/26/2003 7:48:39 AM PST by Scott Mahrle
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To: alnitak; mhking
As part of a University of Salford experiment to develop a diagnostic test for beef tapeworm, biologist Mike Leahy volunteered to grow this gruesome parasite inside his own gut.

Just damn.

10 posted on 11/26/2003 7:48:40 AM PST by martin_fierro (_____oooo_(_°_¿_°_)_oooo_____)
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To: alnitak
biologist Mike Leahy volunteered to grow this gruesome parasite inside his own gut.

Hardcore.

11 posted on 11/26/2003 7:51:45 AM PST by Prodigal Son
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To: TheDon
There's some species of botfly in VA. I caught a mouse in a trap once and was astonished to see a worm nearly a third its size had crawled out of it. My grandfather told me the usually are partial to deer and he hadn't seen one in a mouse before, it was an eye opener...
12 posted on 11/26/2003 7:52:09 AM PST by Axenolith (<TAG>)
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To: alnitak
In fact, parasites make up the majority of species on Earth.

Thanks to liberals.....

13 posted on 11/26/2003 7:54:33 AM PST by Lijahsbubbe (Take my advice; I don't use it anyway.)
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To: alnitak
In fact, parasites make up the majority of species on Earth.

Uhoh, the liberals are taking over.

Darwin, call your office now!

14 posted on 11/26/2003 7:55:56 AM PST by americanSoul (Better to die on your feet, than live on your knees. Live Free or Die. I should be in New Hampshire.)
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To: alnitak
those who drink directly from a stream should expect a higher than usual rate of parasitic invasion??????
15 posted on 11/26/2003 7:57:10 AM PST by showme_the_Glory (No more rhyming, and I mean it! ..Anybody got a peanut.....)
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To: Scott Mahrle
The advanced math was obviously too much for the BBC editorial dept. Most journalists are still at the "some beans" stage of arithmetic. They even mixed up the units, moving from cm to feet with the sort of wanton abandon which would do NASA proud.

If we assume 4 cm PER DAY, we get 4x7x12 = 356cm, which is a lot closer to 12 feet.
16 posted on 11/26/2003 7:58:56 AM PST by alnitak ("That kid's about as sharp as a pound of wet liver" - Foghorn Leghorn)
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To: AmericanInTokyo
This gets my appetite going.
17 posted on 11/26/2003 7:59:20 AM PST by Lazamataz (PROUDLY SCARING MYSELF SINCE 1999 !)
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To: alnitak
That's a typo. I really did mean 336 cm, honest.
18 posted on 11/26/2003 8:00:30 AM PST by alnitak ("That kid's about as sharp as a pound of wet liver" - Foghorn Leghorn)
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To: js1138
I'll be thinking of you tomorrow, but not fondly.

ROTFL!

19 posted on 11/26/2003 8:00:47 AM PST by ladyinred (The Left have blood on their hands!)
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To: alnitak
His patience was rewarded when a brown worm-like creature emerged from his right nostril and looked around.

This is one situation where it appears Michael Jackson has an advantage over the rest of us. I would expect that these worms are not fond of polyurethane.

20 posted on 11/26/2003 8:05:26 AM PST by ElkGroveDan (Fighting for Freedom and Having Fun)
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