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The first patient, a 78-year-old woman, arrived at the hospital in November 2012 with headaches, drowsiness, and cognitive impairment. A few weeks later, a 46-year-old man also came to the hospital with a headache that had lasted more than 20 days. Both patients had stiff necks, sign of possible meningitis. The scans showed two suspicious spots in the woman's brain and a nodule in the right lung of the man
Both patients had something in common: they had eaten raw millipedes of one vegetable market in Guangzhou. infected with the rat lungworm, otherwise known as Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which had caused a type of meningitis.
To confirm that it could have been centipedes, the researchers bought 20 of them in the same market where both patients had theirs. They found rat lungworm larvae in seven of the specimens – an average of 56 larvae per centipede.
"To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. cantonensis infection by centipede consumption". Janice Okubo, a spokeswoman for the Hawaii State Department of Health has seen a number of cases.
More than 140 species of mollusks, such as snails and slugs, have been found as potential intermediate hosts in nature and in scientific experiments, according to the authors of the new report.
Other Animals that feast on these snails, including frogs and fish, can also be infected. But as indicated by the name of the parasite, the rat is the definitive host.
"Angiostrongylus cantonensis may present differently in adults and children. that you hear complaint is a headache, "Walden said, adding that adults often report stiffness in the neck, nausea and vomiting.
" In children, it is more nausea and vomiting, not so much headaches, "she said.Children will also have fevers and will experience abdominal pain more than adults.
Ingested parasite" can also move to the eye , and you can have an eye angiostrongylus, "said Walden." If the parasite goes to the eye, sometimes you can surgically remove it. "
People do not become contagious, so they do not can not transmit the infection to someone else.
New report patients recover well after 15 days of treatment, which included a pest and a steroid, the authors wrote
Doctors are looking for general Indices and bases their diagnoses on the possible exposure to the parasite, through food or water, while living in or visiting an endemic area. More than 2,800 cases have been reported in about 30 countries, mostly in parts of Asia and the Pacific Islands, with fewer cases in the Caribbean and in Africa
The CDC recommends that vegetables and boil frogs or snails. eat for three to five minutes. According to the agency, you may also want to cover any drink to thwart snails or slugs on a mission.
