Eating live lobster ground is at risk of lung fluke infection

Ground lobster is an intermediate host that can spread Paragonimus kellicotti parasites, which cause lung fluke if eaten raw.

Doctors at Washington University School of Medicine at St. Louis, USA, used to treat rare lung fluke infections for 6 patients who eat live lobsters from Missouri rivers and streams between 2007 and 2010. Before these 6 people, only Seven similar cases were reported in North America, where Paragonimus kellicotti is very common in ground lobsters.

Paragonimus kellicotti lungs from the infancy to adulthood.(Photo: Hasshe).

Ground lobsters are distributed throughout North America with hundreds of species living in rivers and streams and lakes. They are the host of P. kellicotti. This flukes are only dangerous to mammals, including dogs, cats and humans if eaten by earth lobster. P. kellicotti is oval in shape, 1.3 cm long, usually migrating from the intestines to the lungs after digestion. They can also migrate to the brain, causing severe headaches and vision problems, or in the form of small bumps running under the skin.

"After you eat lobster soil, parasites appear and move through the diaphragm. They pass through the intestinal wall to the lungs, where they can complete life cycle and mature. When in the lungs, they form. But sometimes they get lost on the way to the lungs and may end up elsewhere.One of our patients has lung fluke to go to the brain, another is on the cheek " , Michael A. Lane, professor of medicine for infectious diseases division at the University of Washington, said.

According to Dr. Gary Weil, professor of medicine and molecular microbiology, participants treated patients, Paragonimiasis caused fever, cough, chest pain, shortness of breath and fatigue. The disease can be cured if promptly diagnosed. But this disease is so rare that most doctors don't usually detect it. Instead, patients are often prescribed medication to treat pneumonia. After diagnosis of lung fluke, the doctor will prescribe oral medication to the patient. Symptoms will subside after a few days and patients usually recover within 7-10 days.

Missouri State Health Agency has printed posters advising people not to eat lobster soil living in streams. Thorough processing of lobster soil can kill parasites and do not pose a health risk. Fascioliasis is more common in East Asia, where thousands of cases are infected each year by eating well-cooked crabs containing Paragonimus westermani, another type of lung fluke with P. kellicotti in North American lobsters. .

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