These Intestinal Worms Might Be Hiding In Your Sushi, Doctors Warn

By Amanda MacMillan As sushi and other raw seafood dishes become more popular in Western countries, doctors are warning about a dangerous parasite that could be lurking in undercooked fish and squid. Writing in BMJ Case Reports, gastroenterologists in Portugal recount the tale of a 32-year-old patient who was admitted to the hospital with severe stomach pain, vomiting, and a week-long fever. When he mentioned that he’d recently eaten sushi, his doctors suspected anisakiasis — a parasitic disease caused by tiny worms, called nematodes, that attach to the wall of the stomach, esophagus, or intestine. Sure enough, using an endoscope (a long tube with a with a camera on the end), doctors were able to spot an anisakis larva attached to the patient’s swollen and inflamed gut lining. After the worm was removed using a tiny net, the man’s symptoms cleared up and he was released from the hospital. More than 90 percent of reported anisakiasis cases have occurred in Japan, where raw fish is a large part of most people’s diets. But because of changes in food habits around the world — and the increasing prevalence of sushi — it has been increasingly recognized in Western countries, co-author Joana Carmo, MD, a gastroenterologist at the Hospital Egas Moniz in Lisbon, told Health via email. RELATED: 10 Fish You Should Avoid (and Why) Because of this, the authors say, doctors should consider anisakiasis as a possible diagnosi...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news