Rat Lungworm in Hawaii

[tcmgpt13]

Parasites are being coming more prevalent everywhere. Evidently the symptoms they cause are becoming more severe as well. This article is about the rat lungworm in Hawaii. Some mention has been made that a different type of lungworm may be involved in Morgellons as well. The Hawaiian version of lungworm (introduced from a Southeast Asian slug) does effect the CNS and brain, at least in some people

A familiar story here--no one treated a very ill patient when she went to the hospital three times with severe symptoms of this parasitic infection. She was in a coma when this story was written. To give the doctors some slack, there evidently is no real test for this parasite although the article mentions that in some cases the spinal fluid does reveal the parasite. What happens to people after a few years pass?

Not that this was brought up in this article, but since there are no dewormers for this parasite (which is believed to die off--anyone here believe that story?) what does it mean if this remains dormant in the body, emerging perhaps years later in old age. Just because most people do fight off this infection, does that mean it is really gone?

Read the doctor's comments in this story about the severity of the symptoms:

Parasites cause intense pain for Big Isle victims - Hawaii News - Starbulletin.com

Parasites cause intense pain for Big Isle victims
STORY SUMMARY

WAILUKU » A rare ailment that comes from eating poorly washed local produce has hit three Big Island residents in recent weeks, causing extreme pain and hospitalization.

The ailment, rat lungworm disease, is caused by a parasitic worm carried by slugs or snails.

Most people fully recover without treatment, health officials say. But rat lungworm disease can cause significant pain and trauma, including paralysis, blindness and death, as occurred in a fatal case in Taiwan in 1944, according to a joint state-federal study.
— Gary T. Kubota

FULL STORY
By Gary T. Kubota

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 05, 2009

(WAILUKU » The pain was so bad he screamed for hours.

"It just got so intense, nothing took the pain away," said Big Island resident Zsolt Halda, 36. "It felt like they were doing surgery on me and ripping out my organs."

WASH PRODUCE THOROUGHLY
Here is some information about rat lungworm disease, caused by the parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis, provided in a fact sheet by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Symptoms: Some people do not have any symptoms or have mild symptoms, while others have headache, stiff neck, tingling or painful feelings in the skin, low-grade fever, nausea and vomiting.

Contamination: The rat lungworm is usually spread through larvae in rat feces being consumed by snails or slugs, then eaten by human beings. It is not passed from one person to another person.

Treatment: People usually do not require treatment. The parasite dies over time even without treatment. Even people who develop meningitis usually do not need antibiotics. Sometimes the symptoms of the infection last for several weeks or months while the body's immune system responds to the dying parasites. The most common types of treatment are for the symptoms of the infection (such as pain medication for headache) rather than for the infection itself.

To avoid infection: Do not eat raw or undercooked snails or slugs, and thoroughly wash produce that might have them, especially home-grown produce such as lettuce. If you handle snails or slugs, wear gloves and wash your hands.

Other ways of getting infected can include eating raw or undercooked freshwater prawns, crabs or frogs. Fish do not spread this parasite.

Halda was a victim of what is commonly called rat lungworm disease, a rare ailment that has inexplicably hit three Big Island residents hard in the last few weeks.

Dr. Jon Martell, the attending physician at Hilo Medical Center, said the three patients are the worst he has seen in his 14 years of treating such cases.

"Something's different," Martell said.

The disease arises from parasitic worms, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, sometimes ingested inadvertently by eating raw produce that contains a small snail or slug. The worms migrate through the human body and usually die after several weeks.

Most people recover fully without treatment, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But sometimes the larvae migrate into cerebral fluid, causing inflammation in the brain and spinal cord membrane and a form of meningitis, according to a study by the state and CDC published in 2007. In some cases, rat lungworm disease can cause significant pain and trauma, including paralysis, blindness and death, as occurred in a fatal case in Taiwan in 1944, according to the study.

The study identified 24 rat lungworm cases in Hawaii from January 2001 to February 2005, including 11 on Oahu, nine on the Big Island, three on Maui and one on Lanai.

Patients usually became sick in three days, but one took as long as 48 days, according to the study.

Halda said he and a friend, Silka Strauch, who live in Black Sands between Pahoa and Kalapana, have been eating raw vegetables and taking precautions by cleaning the produce with a peroxide rinse.

He suspects they may have accidentally consumed tiny larvae of slugs lodged in the deep folds of peppers.

Halda said Strauch came down with agonizing pain, but no one at Hilo Medical Center could find anything wrong with her initially and she was not admitted to the hospital.

"I had to take her home ... three separate times," he said. "No one should have to be turned away."

Halda said Strauch was unable to walk and had pain so intense that even the slightest touch hurt her.

"You couldn't even put a sheet on her," he said.

He said Strauch was admitted to the hospital on Dec. 8, and he was admitted on Dec. 15.

Strauch has been in a coma for several days, he said.

Dr. Sarah Park, state epidemiologist, said there is no diagnostic test that confirms the presence of rat lungworm disease, short of finding the parasite, and physicians have to rely partially on the likelihood of possible exposure through a patient's food history.

She said in certain instances, an analysis of spinal fluid can indicate the likelihood of rat lungworm disease.

Park said there is no medical treatment for the disease, and physicians treat the symptoms with pain relievers for aches and steroids for inflammation.

Beatrix Pfleiderer, another friend of Strauch's, said she fears the disease poses a "rising danger."

A 24-year-old Puna man was admitted to Hilo Medical Center with a case last week.

She said others have contracted the disease but have not gone to the hospital because they do not have medical insurance.

Park said the movement to consume home-grown produce is great and that people simply dunk produce in water and assume it is clean.

"You've got to clean each leaf," she said. "Our biggest challenge is constantly reminding people about the risks."

Park said a species of slug on the Big Island has tiny larvae, about 1 to 2 millimeters long.

The presence of the Southeast Asian slug, Parmarion martens, was noticed about 10 years ago and has spread rapidly, said Robert Hollingsworth, an entomologist with the U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center.

"The concern is when it's very small and hard to see," he said.

[tcmgpt13]

Lungworm victim treated in Germany
ByGary T. Kubota

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jul 06, 2009
(Single Page View) | Return to Paginated View

A woman recuperating from rat lungworm disease on the Big Island has been flown to Germany where she is expected to undergo treatment in hopes of getting her off a breathing machine.


Silka Strauch arrived last Monday in Dresden, said her friend Kristina Mauak. "We are all very happy and relieved," she said. "We are so hopeful now."


Strauch's parents from Germany have been on the Big Island for several months trying to raise money to fly her to Dresden for the treatment.
They were able to get a $25,000 loan to make the trip on an air ambulance, Mauak said.


She said the parents are grateful for the generous donations, "without which this would never have been possible."


Strauch, a yoga teacher, was admitted to Hilo Medical Center on Dec. 8. She and a friend, Zsolt Halda, contracted the disease spread by eating vegetables containing larvae of a slug that carries the rat lungworm.



Most people fully recover, but some experience complications, including paralysis, blindness and death, health officials say.


Before leaving Hawaii, Strauch had recovered enough to be aware of the people around her and was able to move her hands and legs.


"She is conscious. She understands completely," Mauak said.


Halda is recovering at home on the Big Island and hopes to visit Strauch during her recovery in Germany.


Meanwhile, he is building a house so that Strauch will have a place to live when she returns to Hawaii, Mauak said.

[meg280]

On animal planet wed nights there is a show called

MONSTERS INSIDE ME: Giving information on the RAT LUNG WORM this on last nights show...

You can see all different versions of parasites the issues they caused the human hosts and the time that it takes to diagnosed these suckers not to mention how easy they are to catch from undercooked food to walking/playing in grass where coons or other wild animals play and how the transfer to humans is easier than ever...

Xo
Meg

[Morgan]

Originally Posted by meg280

On animal planet wed nights there is a show called

MONSTERS INSIDE ME: Giving information on the RAT LUNG WORM this on last nights show...

You can see all different versions of parasites the issues they caused the human hosts and the time that it takes to diagnosed these suckers not to mention how easy they are to catch from undercooked food to walking/playing in grass where coons or other wild animals play and how the transfer to humans is easier than ever...

Xo
Meg

Wow, I just saw this last evening just before going to sleep. Not a good show to watch before bedtime.

Yes, all of those students who became ill after eating the salad infected with the rat lungworm in Jamacia infected by a snail. (They all ate at the same restaurant on a trip).
The most startling aspect was the Leshmaniasis in Northern Texas in the sandflies. The derm doctors were seeing a pattern of people infected with non-healing wounds who had NOT been outside the country. It IS IN TEXAS according to them. Is spread by sandflies who bite infected wood rats and then bite humans.
Those poor AIDS victims in Wisconsin who contracted the biggest cryptosporidium outbreak in U.S. history in 1993. Those folks didn't stand a chance. It was in the city water system. The cholorine doesn't kill it.
Most people just got diaharria. But hundreds of immune compromised people died. Sad and interesting show.

Morgan

[tcmgpt13]

That would be a scary program to watch just before bedtime. Or any time.

Did they discuss at all the fact that many of the parasitic outbreaks in the US are due to the large influx of people from foreign countries who are often undocumented and who also work in restaurants handling food? Or the fact that leishmaniasis (chagas type) is now sometimes found in the US blood supply? I wonder when malaria will once again rear its ugly head in the US, to infect those who have not traveled outside the US. All it takes is a mosquito biting an infected person who come from areas with malaria to see this also start to spread again in the US. The last time I looked I saw that people were allowed to donate blood three years after malarial infection and "recovery" (those who have lived in high risk malarial areas). Yet some types of malaria can hide in the body for years. So how can it ever be "safe"? Yes according to the CDC it is still three years. Plus how many donors lie about their status? It happens all the time.

It all seems quite mad to me, the lack of any sort of health checks for those entering the country from countries with these types of diseases. Sometimes I wonder if something like cholera will appear as well.

Chagas: Fact Sheets: Detailed Fact Sheet - CDC DPD

Frequently Asked Questions | CDC Malaria

[Robin]

Hey everyone,
This is truly maddening how it is very well known that there are many people in the U.S who have immigrated from third world countries and this has resulted in the introduction of unfamiliar helminth infections into the states.these parasites of humans causes a variety of disease conditions and symptoms ranging from lack of energy and vigor to blindness and malformations. This is the explanation to this in the US most Helminth infections of humans are controlled by public health programs,public education,vector controls,intermediate host control and antihelminthic drugs.
But if they can't even recognize we have a parasitic infection how can they treat it? they won't even consider this! so we will continue to infect the world. it needs to be stopped very soon
XO
Robin