Posting this again because the original was deleted by mistake.
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Fasciola hepatica, often called the common or sheep liver fluke, is a parasitic flatworm that targets the livers of various mammals, including humans. People usually get infected by accidentally eating the cyst stage found on raw freshwater vegetation, like watercress. These plants carry the metacercaria stage, which develops after the plants are visited by swimming cercariae released by thousands from infected snails. Snails pick up the parasite from livestock waste. Once a snail is host, the parasite consumes its reproductive organs to fuel the production of more cercariae. This process, known as parasite gigantism, can actually cause the snails to grow to massive sizes. I know these life cycles are quite intricate, so if you’d like more details on how this works and the science behind parasite gigantism, I’ve made a 10-minute video explaining it with academic references: nerdy parasite video (it’s very information-heavy, so no worries if that’s not your thing).
Well… there goes my desire to eat.
What is that dark liquid coming out??
It’s kind of cute! But I definitely don’t want one inside me.
This is super interesting, but I still kind of hate you for it.
My neighbor used to brag about picking wild watercress… we aren’t near any farms, but the thought that this could be on it… yikes. I told her I really hope she’s scrubbing it well.
Nothing grosses me out more than internal worms. I can deal with almost anything else, but that’s where I draw the line.
I was really hoping to see that thing actually get pulled out.
I really hope this is just a fluke, because if this is common, we’re all in trouble.
Helminths was my most hated subject because I couldn’t stop squirming. It made me so restless I’d have to go out into the hall to shake it off. It’s ironic (in a dark way) that I’m seeing this, because I just saw a patient yesterday with a long history of delusional parasitosis.
This is fascinating, but can you explain how one would actually clear these out of their body?
Yes officer, this is the post right here.