Main image via Daily Mail
Sometimes eating or drinking the wrong food can cause a stomachache but one man’s stomach pains were found to have been caused by a tapeworm.
An 18-meter long tapeworm.
If you’re the squeamish type, we’d advise you to look away from this article.
via GIPHY
Recently, a man was shocked to find a knife stuck in his chest after 14 months and now, doctors in Thailand were horrified to find to an 18-meter long tapeworm hidden in a man’s gut.
After complaining of stomach pain and extreme flatulence, the 67-year-old man paid a visit to a hospital in Nong Khai province, Thailand.
Unaware of any unusual problems, the man was asked for a stool sample that was then sent to medics at the Parasitic Disease Research Centre, in the neighbouring Nakhon Ratchasima province.
The lab tests of the sample showed that it contained 28 eggs.
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The man was then given deworming medicine that was taken before bed and by morning, he was shocked to find a giant parasite oozing out of his rectum.
“A Taenia saginata bovine tapeworm more than 18 meters long was obtained from a patient whose sample was sent to the centre,” a spokesperson shared.
“He was given the deworming medication before bedtime and in the morning this long worm came out of his bottom.”
“It was very big and took us a while to lay it all out on the ground.”
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The medics shared that the 18-meter parasite was the biggest tapeworm they had found in over 50 years.
Doctors believe that the tapeworm had come from the ingestion of raw beef that contained tapeworm eggs.
“Transmission is caused by eating raw beef,” Dr Schawanya Rattanapitoon, who led the team said. “These parasites can live in humans for more than 30 years.”
“However, currently, they do not survive very long because better medication is available. But this tapeworm was very long.”
“According to past information, it is the longest that has been seen in Thailand for 50 years.”
Taenia saginata, also known as the beef tapeworm, is a type of parasite that can live in the human gut for up to 30 years and human are usually infected when they eat raw or undercook beef that contains the infectious larvae.
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After passing the extremely long tapeworm, the patient was given medication and warned to change his eating habits.
“We have suggested that the patient’s family also have medical tests to find out whether they had parasites as they are also at risk,” Dr Schawanya noted.
“We warned them not to continue consuming raw meat as that is one of the main causes of having parasites in the body.”
Image via The Thaiger
Well. We’re crossing raw beef off our life menu from now on.
If you’re eating beef, be sure that it’s not undercooked!
Have you ever had a tapeworm or know someone who did? Let us know what they did once they found out!
Info via Daily Mail