Stunned doctors find 9FT TAPEWORM growing inside man’s stomach ‘after years of eating raw sushi’
The worm had to be folded 18 times to fit into a picture taken by the Singapore General Hospital's Department of Microbiology
A SUSHI-lover who displayed no symptoms was found to have a huge 9ft tapeworm in his stomach.
The worm had to be folded 18 times to fit into a picture taken by the Singapore General Hospital's Department of Microbiology.
Despite the tapeworm's length of 2.8 metres (9ft 2in), the patient showed no signs at all that a parasite was growing inside his body.
"The patient was somewhat appalled when the worm was passed out via the rectum," said infectious diseases expert Hsu Li Yang.
He shared details of the 2016 case to illustrate the issue of people being infected with parasites after eating raw or undercooked seafood.
Professor Hsu said the 2.8 metre-long worm was clearly a tapeworm as no other human parasite could grow to such a length.
"The question is what tapeworm, which will also help answer how the patient had acquired the worm," he added.
People get tapeworms mostly by eating undercooked pork, beef or fish.
Microbiology experts examined an egg obtained from the 2.8 metre-long tapeworm and say it most closely resembled those of fish tapeworms.
Most fish tapeworms are acquired by the consumption of raw or undercooked freshwater fish, as well as fish that spend a considerable amount of their lives in fresh water, such as salmon.
Prof Hsu suspects infestation with fish tapeworms has increased in Singapore, similar to other developed countries where raw fish consumption has been on the rise.
But he said this could not be confirmed as no data was recorded and people who were infected may not have any symptoms.
Many people with tapeworm infections do not have symptoms, while others experience nausea, weakness, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.
Other common parasites found in seafood include roundworms and flukes, a kind of flatworm.
Last week it emerged a Californian man who ate raw salmon sashimi everyday was shocked to find a five foot tapeworm hanging out his backside when he went to the toilet.
Doctors concluded the most likely cause of the giant parasite was the man's sushi addiction.
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