Horror story is true: what will happen if the parasite leeches in the throat?

The situation of parasitic leeches is very common because many people swim, wash and even drink water from contaminated rivers and lakes . Up to now in many parts of the world, parasitic leeches continue to occur - but they reside in the nose and throat of people.

Today, the problem of leeches entering the nose, mouth is no longer a rare case. For example, there has recently been a case of leukemia in the nose in China.

Even medicine has terms like "leech endoparasitism" or "internal hirudiniasis" to talk about parasitic leeches .

But more than 30 years ago, a British doctor was extremely shocked by such a case. Strangely, he carefully recorded this case as follows.

Dr. Granger's case of illness

At that time in 1985, Dr. TAGranger was working in the Northwest region of India. He received a special case, the patient was a Pashtun old man with a salt-and-pepper beard, saying there was something in his . throat.

He tried to cough it out but couldn't, instead just spitting out black sips of blood. It also made him very difficult to eat for many days.

When looking at the patient's throat, Dr. Granger can remove blood clots, but does not see any parasites. If it really exists, it seems to have "dwelt" deeper.

Parasitic leukemia.

Granger immediately took a specialized tool - a scissors-like handle but a very long stem and tweezers-like tongue - deep into the lower throat, near the esophagus. Immediately, Granger could sense the existence of a moving object. He pulled out the tip of the tweezers.

Indeed, it was a leech that was about 6 - 7cm long and lived in the throat for 11 days! According to the patient, he previously drank stagnant rainwater and was immediately caught by the animal " holding " his throat!

Close up of a leech

The leeches are actually of the worms family, the earthworm industry. That means the leech body is also a lot of burning (round) like earthworms.

A leech is swallowing an earthworm.

And maybe you don't know: leeches have 2 suckers (to suck blood) on both ends of the body. Large sucker is located in the back, in addition to sucking blood, it also helps to crawl and crawl. The remaining cupping is the mouth of the animal.

Usually leeches will parasitize on host skin (including mammals, fish, amphibians). But if there is a chance to penetrate the throat, the larynx or the nose, it certainly does not . refuse. In animals, even leeches can "live" on the vagina, bladder, and anus.

It will try to suck the host's blood until its "bulging" body is 10 times larger. Furthermore, saliva of hirudin-containing leeches has anticoagulant effect, making it difficult to remove without the help of medical personnel.

Being leeched to the throat: how dangerous?

One worrying thing is the common parasitic leech in rural areas . But here, patients buy drugs themselves or mistaken for other nose and throat diseases.

Cases of parasitic leeches in the nose, throat of humans and animals.

For example, in 2002, a Syrian boy was parasitic leech after drinking water from a stream, constantly feeling short of breath. But the patient was told by the local " healer" for medicine . asthma.

Similarly, in 2009 an 11-year-old boy in Iran was also infected with leeches in his mouth after taking a bath, but was prescribed an antibiotic . sore throat!

Another case happened to a 7-year-old boy in Ethopia in 2013. He had leeches in his esophagus, causing saliva to have blood and found it difficult to breathe.

At first, his family treated himself with folk remedies from poppy leaves and flax seeds but of course did not work. Fortunately, finally to the hospital room, she was anesthetized by the doctors and "pulled" her disc successfully.

Do not swim, drink water from unsafe sources to avoid dangerous parasitic diseases!

From many cases noted above, medicine listed the symptoms of nasopharyngeal leeches as follows: throat swelling, difficulty swallowing, vomiting or coughing up blood, feeling of "strange objects" moving turn, wheeze hard to breathe .

If you experience any of these symptoms, don't panic, take the sick person to the doctor as soon as possible. In general, parasitic leeches are usually not life-threatening, but there are still many risks of unpredictability if they block the airway.

In addition, prevention is better than cure. In any case, we should avoid drinking water or swimming in unsafe water environments. For removal of leeches, you can refer to the following steps.

How to remove leeches from the skin

• Step 1: Calm, leeches do not transmit disease or have poison.
• Step 2: Leech secretes substances that make us feel no pain. But check if there are any more leeches.
• Step 3: If possible, wait 20 minutes, leeches will spit out. You will not die if you lose a bit of blood.
• Step 4: It is also possible to use hard objects, which have edges like cards to hold firmly on the top of the leech (the smaller side is the head).
• Step 5: When leeches come out, stay away from it right away unless you want to be "sucked" again.
• Step 6: Wash, disinfect and bandage the wound. If the wound is still bleeding after that, go to the doctor.