Doctors have removed a live worm from the nose of a man at Nazareth Hospital in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. According to an IANS report, the doctors said patient Cecil Andrew approached them after suffering from a bleeding nostril for several days. The patient also claimed that he felt strange movements inside the nose.
When the doctors examined the nose, they found a live worm hidden deep inside his left nostril.
ENT surgeon Dr Subhas Chandra Verma used the telescope method so as not to damage the surrounding tissues.
Dr Verma said that the patient had bathed in the stagnant water of a waterfall in Uttarakhand about two weeks ago. While it is common to find leeches stuck to the external parts of the body of people who bathe in a pond or lake, finding one inside the nose is a strange and rare incident.
He added that it was fortunate that the worm did not travel to the brain or eye. He also said that the patient was healthy and recovering.
In April, a man visited a pharmacist complaining of abdominal pain and an urge to vomit, and found himself in a similar situation, according to an X post shared by a Nigeria-based pharmacist (Account name: @PharmacistEmeka). When the pharmacist reportedly asked the man when he had last dewormed himself, he said it had been years. The pharmacist then handed him a deworming medicine, which he took at night, the user claimed. In the morning, he reportedly threw up and out came a live worm.
The X user explained that worms could be ingested into the body through contaminated food or water. The pharmacist said that even adults should deworm at least 2 to 3 times a year, although the advice may vary with the region one lives in. Several parasitic worms can enter and live in the human body such as tapeworms, roundworms and hookworms.