THE HUMAN BODY — Graphic video, released last year, shows two parasitic worms being pulled from a human liver, and it’s going viral once again.
Not much is known about the location or person involved in the video, but according to LiveLeak, where the video was recently uploaded, and DZMedicine.com, where it was uploaded last year, the worms were ascaris or small intestinal roundworms.
The two extracted measured 25 cm and 5 mm in length.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 807 to 1,221 million people in the world are infected by ascaris worms.
Infection occurs when an ascaris worm egg is consumed. The larva of the worm is released in the intestine. The larva often travels through intestinal walls up into the lungs, causing coughing, one of the many symptoms of infection. The larva are once again swallowed and mature when they reach the small intestine a second time. Eggs are released in feces, which can lead to infections of other people.
The worms can also migrate into other organs, as in this case, where they traveled to the liver.
