Doctors Remove Live Worm From Woman’s Tonsil After Eating Sashimi

• A Japanese woman went to the hospital after suffering throat pain and irritation for five days.
• She said she ate assorted sashimi prior to the severe throat pain.
• The doctors then found a 38-millimeter or 1.5 inches worm living insider her tonsil.

A 25-year-old woman in Japan suffered pain and irritation in her throat for five days. At first she thought it was just a regular tonsillitis, so she went to visit the doctor. It turned out the pain was due to a worm living and lurking inside her tonsil.

How did this happen? According to her attending physician at Tokyo’s St. Luke’s International Hospital, the live worm in her throat came from the assorted sashimi she ate five days ago. The doctors also said that the woman suffered an illness called “Anisakiasis”.

The said illness occurred due to consuming parasite-contaminated fish or seafood.

The CNN report also stated that the woman’s doctors said that the worm was a black parasite 38 millimeter or 1.5 inches in length. It was still moving even after the doctors removed the black worm by using tweezers.

Based on the DNA test, the worm is identified as a fourth-stage larva of “Pseudoterranova azaras.” It is a “parasitic roundworm” that infects the stomach after a person ate larvae in raw or undercooked marine fish, according to the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

The cases of Anisakiasis illness, the 2017 report said, are continuously increasing in the Western countries particularly in places where sushi and other raw or uncooked seafood dishes are very popular.

Such cases are very common in Japan and other North Pacific countries, South America, and the Netherlands with 700 incidents reported.

The woman’s blood test results were normal and her symptoms drastically improved, as soon as the worm was removed.

The journal also noted a similar case where a healthy 32-year-old man was found to have a swollen intestinal membrane. He experienced vomiting, severe upper gut pain, and fever for a week.

The doctors found a “firmly attached parasite” in his intestine. The parasite ended penetrating his stomach. In an interview, the man said that he recently ate sushi before the symptoms occured.