22 November 2023 , 07:56
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Doctors have been left baffled when a patient came in for a routine screening only to find a fully intact fly inside his intestines.
The Missouri man went through a colonoscopy where medical experts found the insect in his transverse colon, located at the top of the large intestine. It isn't clear how the creature got in there, but experts think the man may have eaten a lettuce or vegetable that contained it.
It did not move when it was poked and prodded and the patient said he did not feel any symptoms or pain and did not know how the fly had got there. He told his physician he had only consumed clear liquids the day before.
The unusual case was recorded in the American Journal of Gastroenterology which said the case "represents a very rare colonoscopic finding" and that it was a "mystery on how the intact fly found its way to the transverse colon." Usually, stomach acid is enough to kill flies but there are documented cases of eggs hatching inside the stomach after they were inside fruit that was consumed.
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The case 'represents a very rare colonoscopic finding', doctors said (American Journal of Gastroenterology)It is one of a number of unusual cases this year and doctors pulled alive and wriggling worm from a woman's brain. The case was revealed in August when physicians in New South Wales, Australia inspected the symptoms of a woman, 54, who was experiencing tummy pain, a cough, night sweats and diarrhea.
Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake, ANU and Canberra Hospital infectious disease expert said that after the patient had undergone an MRI, they expected to find some sort of abscess or cancer. It is believed the worm burrowed itself inside the woman after she ate leaves that were contaminated with faeces left by a carpet python.
They said: “We're encroaching on previously untouched environments, allowing humans, domestic animals, wild animals, and flora all to be interacted with in a way that we haven't been doing before. "So we'll see more and more of these types of infections appearing."
Associate Professor Karina Kennedy, ANU Medical School said: "People who garden or forage for food should wash their hands after gardening and touching foraged products. Any food used for salads or cooking should also be thoroughly washed, and kitchen surfaces and cutting boards, wiped downed and cleaned after use."
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