New worm parasite discovered in Russia in humans
A 56-year-old resident of one of the districts of the Kirov region
turned to the Kirov Regional Clinical Hospital. About a year and
a half ago, she had a small formation in the scalp. Recently, it
began to disturb, cause itching and swelling. During the ultrasound
examination, a multiple tubular movable structure was revealed,
which made it possible to make an assumption about the parasitic
nature of the formation. The patient was immediately admitted to
the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, where she underwent
surgery.
According to the maxillofacial surgeon Yevgeny Sergunin, during
the operation, a neoplasm 1 cm in diameter was isolated and
completely removed, a thin white worm almost 8 cm long was found
in it. The female Dirofilaria repens turned out to be the parasite.
Until recently, it was believed that only animals were affected by
this disease. This helminth mainly lives in countries with a warm
climate, as well as in the south of Russia and Central Asia. As the
specialist explained, the carriers of dirofilariasis are mosquitoes.
The mechanism of the spread of the disease is as follows: during
a mosquito bite of an animal infected with Dirofilaria repens, the
insect becomes infected. The infected insect then bites the person
and infects him with dirofilariae (
https://bit.ly/3NmpDqu).
