Woman has 'moving blemishes', turns out they are parasitic worms
In a rather worrisome case, a 32-year-old Russian woman was shocked to see her blemishes moving. From a tiny blemish under her eye, the scars moved up her eye and then downwards, swelling her lips. It was later revealed that the blemish was a parasite, living under her skin. The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a report titled 'Migrating Dirofilaria repens' on this case.
The woman remembers being stung by mosquitoes on village visit
The unnamed Russian woman experienced itching and burning when the worm moved under her skin. The creature called Dirofilaria repens, a long parasitic roundworm, is usually found in mosquitoes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The woman said she visited a village near Moscow a while ago and remembers being stung by many mosquitoes.
How did the parasite find its way to woman's body?
Director of clinical parasitology, Thomas Nolan at Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine explained the journey of the parasite in the woman's skin. The mosquitoes ingest the parasite's undeveloped embryos which grow into first, second and third-stage larvae inside the insect's body. When the mosquito bites a human, the larvae are transferred to the body.
Once parasite enters human body, things get uglier
Once inside the host body, the larvae mature to a worm, making things weirder. Dirofilaria typically finds its way near eyes, chest wall, upper and lower limb, neck and even in genitals. In some cases, the worm's active movement near eyelids can be noticed. They sometimes migrate to lungs, but that is rare, suggests European Society of Dirofilariosis and Angiostrongylosis (ESDA).
Thankfully, worms can be removed from skin surgically
The head author of study said such parasites are extremely common in Western part of former Soviet Union and some parts of Europe. In 1997, as much as 4,000 such cases were reported in Russia and Ukraine. However, the good news is the parasites are removable through surgery. In this case, the doctors removed the worm from the woman's face, curing her physically.
