“Dancing Worms…”: Examined for pain in the testicles, he receives a terrible diagnosis

A diagnosis that is enough to give goosebumps. In India, a 26-year-old man from New Delhi visited a health center for pain was felt in one of his testicles. Quickly taken care of, that then lead one ultrasound.

But the diagnosis was quite surprising. As the Daily Mail reports, doctors have discovered “linear structures move” in the patient’s wallet, movements described as “a dance”. They then removed him from the fluid to examine him under the microscope. An analysis that revealed presence of many live worms, scientifically called Wuchereria bancrofti. The young man was indeed suffering lymphatic filariasis and was prescribed a three-week antiparasitic treatment. When he was examined again, the worms had disappeared.

Worms transmitted by mosquitoes

These infections are caused by the bite of mosquito. These transfer the worms to the bloodstream. As stated by the World Health Organization, lymphatic filariasis weakens the lymphatic system and can lead to abnormal increase in volume of certain parts of the body, which can cause severe pain, even lead to serious disability. “Mosquitoes are infected with microfilariae when they bite an infected host and ingest their blood. The microfilariae develop inside the mosquito until they become infective larvae. When a new person is bitten by the infected mosquito, the parasite’s mature larvae are deposited on their skin and can then enter their body. The larvae then migrate to the lymphatic vessels where they mature, thus continuing the cycle of transmission.thus describes the WHO.

Globally, 863 million people in 47 countries are at risk of lymphatic filariasis. Parasitic worm infections are particularly common in tropical and subtropical regions, Africa, Asia and South America.