PETS SOURCE OF INFECTION; DOCS CALL FOR AWARENESS
City docs remove 759 cysts from woman’s stomach
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:5.12.2019
Doctors at Saveetha Hospitals in the city recently removed 759 cysts from the stomach of a 29-year-old woman.
The women suffered excruciating pain as the cysts — one of which was as large as a football — covered 50% of space in her abdominal cavity. An ultrasound scan showed that the woman had four very large cysts and several other tiny cysts near them.
“These were caused by peritoneal hydatid disease, a parasitic disease caused by the larvae of a tapeworm,” said Saveetha Hospital general surgeon Dr B S Sundaravadanan. These cysts were removed through a complicated surgery.
“We wanted to talk about this to create awareness. The disease is not common in human beings. The usual host for the parasite is either a dog or a sheep. It usually spreads to humans only when contaminated food or water is ingested,” he said.
Echinococcus granulosus, or tapeworm, usually infects dogs that eat the meat of sheep and other livestock. Tapeworm’s eggs can be found in dogs’ stool. Direct contact with infected dogs, particularly intimate contact between children and their pet dogs, may lead to human infection. Ingestion of water and vegetables contaminated with infected dog feces may also lead to infections.
“This patient had some pets and says she had a similar cyst removed when she was seven-years-old. We are assuming the primary cyst was removed then and these secondary cysts had developed over a period of time,” he said.
Removing these cysts were essential because any rupture could have been life threatening. The toxic liquid inside the cysts could have damaged the vital organs such as liver, kidney and intestine that were close to them.
Hospital director Dr Saveetha Rajesh said intake of fresh food, clean water and proper hygiene should be maintained to avoid prevention of such diseases. “The larger issue is hand hygiene. Pets like dogs should be dewormed periodically and handled with care,” she said.
(Patient’s name has been withheld)
City docs remove 759 cysts from woman’s stomach
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Chennai:5.12.2019
Doctors at Saveetha Hospitals in the city recently removed 759 cysts from the stomach of a 29-year-old woman.
The women suffered excruciating pain as the cysts — one of which was as large as a football — covered 50% of space in her abdominal cavity. An ultrasound scan showed that the woman had four very large cysts and several other tiny cysts near them.
“These were caused by peritoneal hydatid disease, a parasitic disease caused by the larvae of a tapeworm,” said Saveetha Hospital general surgeon Dr B S Sundaravadanan. These cysts were removed through a complicated surgery.
“We wanted to talk about this to create awareness. The disease is not common in human beings. The usual host for the parasite is either a dog or a sheep. It usually spreads to humans only when contaminated food or water is ingested,” he said.
Echinococcus granulosus, or tapeworm, usually infects dogs that eat the meat of sheep and other livestock. Tapeworm’s eggs can be found in dogs’ stool. Direct contact with infected dogs, particularly intimate contact between children and their pet dogs, may lead to human infection. Ingestion of water and vegetables contaminated with infected dog feces may also lead to infections.
“This patient had some pets and says she had a similar cyst removed when she was seven-years-old. We are assuming the primary cyst was removed then and these secondary cysts had developed over a period of time,” he said.
Removing these cysts were essential because any rupture could have been life threatening. The toxic liquid inside the cysts could have damaged the vital organs such as liver, kidney and intestine that were close to them.
Hospital director Dr Saveetha Rajesh said intake of fresh food, clean water and proper hygiene should be maintained to avoid prevention of such diseases. “The larger issue is hand hygiene. Pets like dogs should be dewormed periodically and handled with care,” she said.
(Patient’s name has been withheld)
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