Lucia Pombosister of the famous Maria Pombo, returned from the beaches Zanzibar with a curious souvenir: A worm in leg. The nasty pictures posted by the social media influencer essentially show what appears to be a maggot underneath her skin, surrounded by a sort of reddish bubble. But how could it get there?
The girl is not sure how this parasitic worm could have gotten to her leg, although she suspects it could have been on the beach, which, in her words, was “infested with stray cats and dogs.” This makes sense because you have what is known as migrating larva cutaneouswhich occurs when a parasite that usually infects the digestive system of cats and dogs penetrates human skin and settles underneath it, causing itching and rashes.
Luckily there’s a worm in my leg Lucia Pombo This is not dangerous. It belongs to a species that does not have access to the human digestive system and usually disappears on its own, without the need for treatment. Despite this, she has already consulted a doctor who has prescribed medications that will help it disappear faster. Everything was in fear. Quite unpleasant to watch, but just scary. What else do we know about this parasite?
Where did the worm in Lucia Pombo’s leg come from?
The Lucia Pombo worm belongs to the genus Hookworm. This is a parasite that usually lives in humid environmentin the climate tropicalwhose life cycle often stumbles upon the feet of tourists.
In the book Parasites: minor characters in our storyfrom Concha Mesa and Jose Antonio GarridoSeveral examples of this parasite and how it enters humans are described.
Eggs are usually laid in the soil of these damp areas. Once they hatch, they release early-stage larvae. So they continue to evolve until they reach what is known as L3 state. Under certain conditions of temperature and humidity, they stop feeding and stop developing, forming hairball-like structures that remain in the ground waiting to find a host in which to live. continue to develop.
In the case of humans, they usually penetrate with bare feet, as happened with Lucia Pombo. It all depends on the type Hookworm which we are talking about. The influencer is lucky because the worm in her leg is one of those species whose main host is not human. Perhaps it Brazilian hookwormsince it is one of the species that most often causes migrating larva. This parasite lives primarily in the southern United States and Central and South America. However, it can live in some tropical regions of Africa, such as the island of Zanzibar.
This parasite cannot complete its life cycle in the human body. So, once it penetrates the skin, although it causes itching and rasheventually dies before reaching the adult phase.
Could be worse
Other parasites of the same genus, e.g. Hookworm of the duodenumthey can actually complete their life cycle in humans, causing much more severe symptoms.
We have already seen that the larvae that burrow into the skin are in the L3 stage of development. They need to go through two more before they become adults, but this already happens inside the host’s body. After cutting the skin of the L3 larva resume your development and penetrate cutaneous venules, through which they enter the right ventricle of the heart. From there they go to pulmonary capillaries, which transport them to the bronchi, bronchioles and trachea. In the latter, they are swallowed and reach the digestive system, where they complete their development.
They have hook-like structures to connect mucous membranes and blood vessels. Thus, throughout their journey through the human body, they cause minor wounds and blood loss, which ultimately leads to anemia in the host. This is a very serious anemia that can even be fatal.
In fact, Mesa and Garrido mention in their book the case of construction Gotthard tunnel, in the 19th century. Many of the workers involved died from severe anemia of initially unknown origin. It was soon proven that they had contracted the disease, which fortunately did not affect Lucia Pombo.
An influential person has been invaded by a parasite that usually ends its life cycle in Dogs and cats. That is, in these animals it is possible to continue the remaining stages after L3: move on to the respiratory system and from there to digestive.
At this point, the larvae become adults and lay eggs, which are released through the feces. This feces on the ground begins a new cycle that continues in the wake of some poor tourist like Lucia Pombo.
Either way, in his case, he just has a worm in his foot. The parasite will not travel through your body as it would A. duodenumbecause you don’t have the tools to do it. Fortunately.
Source: Hiper Textual
