Warning of leeches parasitizing the airways when bathing in streams

NDO - Recently, the Central Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital received a number of cases of living foreign objects, leeches, entering the airways of children, causing serious damage to the nose and throat.

Stream leeches entering and parasitizing the ears, nose, and throat are not uncommon, especially in rural and mountainous areas where people have the habit of bathing in streams or using untreated water.

About 2 weeks before being admitted to the hospital, patient Song A L., 3 years old (Phu Yen, Son La ) bathed in a stream with his brother. A few days later, the child had intermittent coughing fits, spitting up fresh blood, occasionally had a hoarse voice with wheezing and felt like something was crawling in his throat.

The family took the child to a local medical facility, where doctors suspected the child had a foreign body in the trachea and transferred him to the Central Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital for further examination and treatment.

Specialist II Doctor Nguyen Thi Hue, Department of Plastic Surgery, Central Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, the doctor directly treating the patient, said: The child was admitted to the hospital with a wheezing cough, no difficulty breathing, no fever... After examination, the patient was determined to have a foreign object, a live leech, attached to the trachea.

Doctors performed anesthesia and performed a rigid endoscopy to remove the foreign object from the child. The foreign object removed was a live leech about 5cm long.

Currently, the patient no longer has previous symptoms, is in stable health condition and has been discharged from the hospital.

Foreign body is leech in the airway of the child.

Doctor Hue said that the blood-sucking leech causes damage to the respiratory tract, stimulates respiratory secretions, causing many bacteria, respiratory infections, bronchitis, and pneumonia. If the leech moves deep into the lungs, it can cause collapsed lungs, recurrent pneumonia, etc. If it moves up to the nose, it can cause intermittent nosebleeds.

In another case, patient Trieu A C., 12 years old (Van Chan, Yen Bai ) was hospitalized with repeated coughing and expectoration of blood-tinged sputum. A month before, the patient also bathed and drank stream water. Doctors examined and diagnosed the patient with a leech and then performed a laryngoscopy to check and remove the foreign object.

Master, Doctor Do Van Tam, the doctor directly treating the child patient, said: If not detected and treated promptly, foreign objects in the airway can cause many dangerous complications, especially "living" foreign objects can grow to a large size, causing airway obstruction.

"When a leech first enters the body through the mouth (oral route), it is usually small in size, but after a short time in the body, it will grow rapidly. The leech's increasing size can cause airway obstruction, leading to suffocation and death," said Dr. Tam.

Therefore, Dr. Tam recommends: Parents should avoid letting their children bathe in streams, ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams, and especially not drink water from streams or streams that has not been boiled. If children go swimming, they should go to a pool with treated water and be supervised by an adult. When there are signs such as: nosebleeds, hoarse crying, hoarse speech, wheezing, difficulty breathing, feeling like something is crawling in the nose, throat, etc., they should immediately go to a reputable medical facility for examination and timely treatment to avoid unfortunate complications later.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/canh-bao-dia-ky-sinh-trong-duong-tho-khi-tam-suoi-post879579.html