Face contains a nest of worms because of applying snail slime to beautify the skin

Snails are a delicacy in drinking parties and are also considered a beauty secret by many women. However, using snails for beauty purposes carries the risk of worm infection that can cause meningitis.

Infected with worms because of snails

The Central Institute of Malaria and Parasitology once examined and treated a patient with eye flukes due to using snails to treat pink eye.

According to this patient, he was from Hoa Binh. Because he had pink eye, he did not go to the doctor but instead let snails crawl into his eyes in the hope of curing the disease. The disease was not cured, he felt eye pain, swollen eyelids and more eye pain. When he went to the Central Eye Hospital for examination, the doctor diagnosed him with parasites in the eyes and referred the patient to the Central Institute of Malaria and Parasitology.

The case of Ms. Vu Thi Man Ch. residing in Bao Thang, Lao Cai was attacked by worms because of using snails for beauty purposes. Ms. Ch. was introduced by her friends to a way to treat melasma by letting snails crawl on her face. The snail's mucus will help remove dead skin cells, thereby fading melasma and freckles. After applying snails a few times, Ms. Ch. felt her face itchy and swollen in some places on her face. Ms. Ch. went to the hospital and the doctor said she had dermatitis.

When she went to the Central Dermatology Hospital for examination, the doctor ordered a blood test because he suspected she had a parasite from applying snails for beauty purposes. The result was that Ms. Ch. had a parasitic worm under her skin. This parasite can come from dog feces, cat feces and snails crawling through to infect her. When applied to the face of a person with an open wound, the parasite can get in.

Can die from snails

Doctor Pham Hong Lanh - Central Dermatology Hospital said that the method of treating acne, melasma and beautifying by using live snail mucus is a potential risk of infection. Because snails are mollusks with many parasitic larvae. When snails are applied to the skin, snail mucus, where many types of larvae live, will attack the skin, eyes, mouth and mucous membranes.

And when attacked by larvae, if not examined promptly, it will leave serious sequelae to the brain. Because these larvae can travel to the human brain and other parts of the body through the blood.

According to data from the Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health, parasitic infections from snails are increasing, especially in the southern provinces.

The larvae that cause meningitis caused by the worm Angiostrongylus cantonensis (A. cantonensis) often reside in snails with symptoms of meningoencephalitis such as severe headache, fever, nausea, meningeal irritation and possible inflammation of the nerves causing facial paralysis, double vision, sensory disturbances, severe cases may manifest as convulsions, paralysis, slurred speech, loss of balance, memory loss, coma. The disease lasts from several days to several months and can lead to death. ...At the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, doctors regularly receive patients with meningitis caused by eating raw snails, snails for beauty purposes, and grilled snails.

The cause of the disease is infection with A. cantonensis, a roundworm that parasitizes the lungs of rats and rats excrete worm larvae into the environment through feces. In the environment, the larvae parasitize intermediate hosts such as mollusks in the soil or in the sea. Therefore, when people eat snails, get exposed to snail slime containing larvae, or drink water containing larvae, they will be infected with this type of worm. A. cantonensis larvae enter the human body and parasitize the brain or other organs, mainly in the central nervous system.

Currently, there is no specific medicine to completely cure meningitis caused by A.cantonensis worm, including antihelminthic drugs.

The Food Safety Department recommends: Absolutely do not follow "rumors" or "experience" to use or "try to use" natural snails, apple snails, and ghost snails to process into food for any purpose.

Absolutely do not eat raw, undercooked, undercooked or cooked whole without preliminary processing or cleaning of natural snails and clams. People should clean the environment, kill rats, snails, apple snails... in residential areas to cut off the biological life cycle of the roundworm A.cantonensis, preventing the risk of causing disease to humans.

According to Zing.vn