https://youtu.be/nkEkDHOQTLs
사람의 눈에서 길이 20cm의 기생충이 산 채로 발견됐다.
로아 로아 사상충 (Loa loa warm)으로 밝혀진 이 기생충을 제거하는 수술의 영상이 최초로 공개돼 화제가 됐다.
수술을 집행하고 촬영한 인도의 애슐리 토마스 무라무틸 의사는 자신이 최근 10년 안에 총 7번 정도 기생충을 안구에서 제거했다고 말했다. 하지만, 이렇게 긴 기생충은 처음이라고 전했다.
Loa loa is the filarial nematode (roundworm) species that causes Loa loa filariasis.
Loa loa actually means "worm worm", but is commonly known as the "eye worm", as it localizes to the conjunctiva of the eye.
Loa loa is commonly found in Africa.
It mainly inhabits rain forests in West Africa and has native origins in Ethiopia.
The disease caused by Loa loa is called loiasis and belongs to the so-called neglected diseases.
L. loa is one of three parasitic filarial nematodes that cause subcutaneous filariasis in humans.
The other two are Mansonella streptocerca and Onchocerca volvulus (causes river blindness).
Maturing larvae and adults of the "eye worm" occupy the subcutaneous layer of the skin – the fat layer – of humans, causing disease.
The L. loa adult worm which travels under the skin can survive up to 10–15 years, causing inflammations known as Calabar swellings.
The adult worm travels under the skin, where the female deposits the microfilariae which can develop in the host’s blood within 5 to 6 months and can survive up to 17 years.
The young larvae, or microfilariae, develop in horseflies of the genusChrysops (deer flies, yellow flies), including the species C. dimidiata and C. silacea, which infect humans by biting them.
After bites from these infected flies, the microfilariae are unique in that they travel in the peripheral blood during the day and migrate into the lungs at night.