A 65-year-old woman who regularly eats raw vegetables suffered from headaches and lost 8 kg in two months. Doctors discovered five types of parasitic worms.
On August 26, a representative of Phu Tho General Hospital said that a chest CT scan revealed pneumonia, and a parasite test showed positive results for 5 types of worms.
The woman had a habit of eating raw vegetables. The doctor determined that this could be the main risk factor for parasitic infection. The patient was prescribed antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-helminthic drugs, and liver tonics.
After treatment, the pneumonia improved, the patient was stable and discharged from the hospital.
The patient’s test results before treatment showed infection with up to 5 types of worms. Photo: Hospital provided
Doctor Tran Van Son, Department of Internal Medicine, Respiratory and Digestive, said that when parasites enter the body and are not detected and treated promptly, they can cause dangerous complications such as acute cholangitis, liver abscess, and cholecystitis, which are life-threatening.
99% of parasitic infections are caused by eating habits, due to undercooked or unhygienic food containing eggs or larvae; the remaining few can be transmitted through the skin from the habit of walking barefoot.
Patients infected with large and small liver flukes can cause liver damage, increased liver enzymes, abscesses, loss of appetite and fatigue. Infection with dog and cat roundworms causes persistent itching, making the patient’s life difficult. Infections become serious if the patient’s central nervous system is damaged, causing epilepsy, convulsions, and mistakenly thought to have a brain tumor or mental illness.
Doctors recommend that people follow food hygiene principles, do not eat raw or rare meat, do not eat meat from diseased animals; eat cooked food, drink boiled water, and periodically deworm 3 times a year, each time 4 months apart (dosage depends on age as prescribed). Detect and deworm promptly if infected.