Sushi Worm Parasite

There was a report recently of a woman in San Francisco suffering from gnathostomiasis. I had learned about the disease while I was in medical school, but never actually saw a case. Evidently, it’s now on the rise. Clinically, the disease commonly presents as “migratory cutaneous swelling” (bumps on the skin that move around). Why? Because there’s a worm under there that migrates through the tissues under the skin and causes recurring episodes of migratory swelling or creeping eruptions. The worm’s head has rings of little hooks that allow it to burrow through tissue. There is no effective treatment, other than removal of the worm. Since humans are basically dead-end hosts for the larva, they can’t develop into mature worms. The symptoms patients experience are due to the organism wandering throughout the body (see Migratory Skin Worms from Sushi).

In addition to burrowing under our skin, it can also crawl into our eyeballs. The 42-year-old woman is described as having a four-year history of migratory swellings on her face, then a little bleeding from the eyelid… and we know where this is going. No problem, though! We can make a little cut, stick in some forceps, locate the worm, and then just pull the sucker right out of the eyeball. If you have any pimples on your face that move around, better to have your doctor grab them before they start swimming around in your eyes.

By far the most serious manifestation is when they get into your brain. As the worm migrates along the nerves, the patient can experience excruciating pain. The condition can lead to paralysis, bleeding in the brain, and finally death. However, in non-cerebral disease, it’s the worms that die, though it may take about 12 years…