Rubbing your eyes after eating fruit is horrible

I guess everyone has experienced small bugs flying into their eyes, but it's a bit creepy when live bugs crawl out of their eyes. 85-year-old Uncle Chen never imagined that the doctor would "catch" two live worms from his eyes.

1. Two live worms crawled in and out of the eyes

"My eyes have been red and itchy for more than a week. I've used eye drops at home but the condition hasn't improved." After listening to Uncle Chen's description, the doctor lifted his eyelids and took a closer look. The conjunctiva was red and severely congested. Suddenly, she discovered that there was something like a "cotton thread" moving between the lower eyelid and the eyeball of her left eye...

What is this thing? After carefully examining it under a slit lamp microscope, Lou Jixian took a deep breath: two thin, long, milky white, translucent nematodes crawled out of Uncle Chen's conjunctival sac, squirmed rapidly, and soon crawled back into the conjunctival sac.

The bugs must be taken out immediately! The doctor gave Uncle Chen a few drops of local anesthetic. Three or four minutes later, two worms stimulated by the anesthetic crawled out of the conjunctival sac one after another. She quickly grabbed the insects' heads with tweezers and gently pulled them out. Two 1cm long worms were taken out with tweezers and placed on a plate, and they kept curling and wriggling rapidly!

After repeated checks to make sure there were no other adult insects, Lou Jixian rinsed Uncle Chen's eyes with saline and put in antibiotic eye drops.

"This is conjunctival sucking nematode disease, a relatively rare parasitic disease of the eye," Lou Jixian introduced.

2. Fruit flies, cats and dogs are all sources of infection

Doctors say that the conjunctival sucking nematode is a relatively rare parasite that lives in the conjunctival sac of the eye and feeds on sucking eye secretions and tears. Because the conjunctival sucking nematode is unique to Asia, it is also called the "Oriental nematode."

The source of infection of this type of nematode is small animals such as cats and dogs infected with conjunctival sucking nematodes, and the fruit flies that we often see in summer are the intermediate hosts and main transmission vectors of this nematode.

June to September every year is the peak breeding period for fruit flies. In addition to flying around fruits, they also like to circle around the eyes of animals such as cats and dogs. When fruit flies lick the eyes of cats and dogs infected with conjunctival sucking nematodes, they will suck the larvae of the parasite into their bodies. When they lick the eyes of other cats, dogs or humans, they may infect them.

Uncle Chen told the doctor that he did not have any pets such as cats or dogs at home, so it was speculated that it was very likely that the "conjunctival sucking nematode disease" was spread by fruit flies. Simply put, it means that the eyes have close contact with fruit flies, or the person has touched an area infected by fruit flies with his hands and then rubbed his eyes.

3. The most effective prevention method is here

Once the conjunctival sucking nematodes enter the eye, they will cause eye discomfort such as foreign body sensation, itching, stinging, and increased eye secretions. If not treated in time, the nematodes will stay in the eye for too long, easily causing corneal ulcers and affecting vision.

"It would be even more troublesome if it gets into the eyeball, causing intraocular infection and even blindness." The doctor said that the key to preventing conjunctival sucking nematodes is to pay attention to personal hygiene and develop the correct way of raising pets.

In addition, all pet owners should pay special attention to bathe their pets regularly, wash their hands with soap and running water after holding their pets, wash their hands with disinfectant if conditions permit, and deworm their pets regularly.

In addition, if you are found to be infected with conjunctival sucking nematodes, you should see an ophthalmologist promptly.