Stoked- I've got hookworm

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bittermelon
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Stoked- I've got hookworm

Post by bittermelon »

No joke, I rolled up my shorts to display the nasty sores and the Thai doctor said, without hesitation- "that's hookworm".
Wonder if it struck her as odd that I was so happy about this. Initially thought it was some kind of insect bite, then @epidemiks suggested the "rove beetle" (which irritates you if you roll on it and crush it- rather than biting you). It stayed around for too long and got too painful for it to be any of these so I was pretty much resigned to it being that lifelong virus that gives sores....sores were everywhere but the usual location for that though- the internet tells me that there is a "wrestlers version" that attacks your body and not your goolies.

The only time I had heard of hookworm was on a thread here about a down on his luck chap at S-ville post132916.html?hilit=hookworm#p132916

Easily treated with a 3 day course of an anti-parasitic called "Albendazole" (or I'm hoping so at least- that these aren't some super-hookworms)

Lesson learnt, in future if I want to read a book on the beach I'll take a decent sized mat to lie on instead of a krama.

Can't speak highly enough of the good people at the "Thai Travel Clinic. Hospital for Tropical Diseases Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University", absolutely fantastic service.
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Flexxman
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Re: Stoked- I've got hookworm

Post by Flexxman »

Wow, I am curious how this treatment will work out, so please post future updates. I posted about hookworm some time ago in the thread about expats dying young, as an example that heart failure can originate from many sources, even from untreated hookworm infections in rare cases. Very good that you are being treated for it!

Note that a common factor to get infected is by walking barefoot - although that is more prevalent among beg-packers I suppose. I looked up my old post to insert the same information, as it is more applicable in this thread than the other:

I feel a bit like I am high-jacking this thread but to add to the wide range of possible causes, I just read that a hookworm infection in rare cases also can lead to heart failure. You know, its larvae will bore through the skin of your feet or enter through some opening or wound when you are walking barefoot on infested ground.

https://soundhealthsolution.com/human-hookworm/ -
Human Hookworm: Causes, Types, Diagnosis, Symptoms, Treatment, & Prevention

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/6/13-1770_article -
High Prevalence of Ancylostoma ceylanicum Hookworm Infections in Humans, Cambodia, 2012

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2863361/ -
Cardiac Involvement with Parasitic Infections

Also, all necessary counter measures for prevention show that the possibility for such an infection is very present in Cambodia:

- Wearing shoes while walking outdoors, especially in places where there are faeces in the soil.
- Drink safe and purified water.
- The food has to be cleaned and cooked before eating.
- Make a habit of properly washing hands.
- Sanitation and cleanliness should be adopted in places having chances of hookworm infection
- Preventive treatment on high-risk groups as children, pregnant women, lactating women and working men at risk can be practised.
- Public health education regarding Hookworm is also important to prevent it.
- Deworm pets including cats and dogs at home.
- Defecation in the open should be strictly prohibited. Toilets should be built.
- Untreated human excreta or raw sewage should not be used as fertilizer for agriculture purpose.
Jack mehoff
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Re: Stoked- I've got hookworm

Post by Jack mehoff »

I take and recommend taking an antiparascitic med every 6 months as a precaution against the numerous parasites that are transmitted commonly in the region. The treatment was recommended by a Dr and is supported by the WHO. The meds are very cheap and easily available.
Hope you feel better soon.
bobsboots
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Re: Stoked- I've got hookworm

Post by bobsboots »

I had a nasty experience with a voracious hook worm back in the mid nineties.
I was on the beach in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka, and the bastard got into a small wound in my big toe.
To cut a long story short, one month later I was on a bed in a Singaporean clinic . The doctor, after giving me some surprisingly good drugs, sliced open the sole of my foot and had to probe around a little to extract the little bugger. Later, he offered me a small,plastic container in which was the worm along with, and still attached to, a small piece of flesh that 20 minutes ago resided in my sole. I declined his kind offer and hobbled out, determined to find the nearest cold bottle of Tiger beer.
talltuktuk
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Re: Stoked- I've got hookworm

Post by talltuktuk »

Jack mehoff wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2019 11:03 pm I take and recommend taking an antiparascitic med every 6 months as a precaution against the numerous parasites that are transmitted commonly in the region. The treatment was recommended by a Dr and is supported by the WHO. The meds are very cheap and easily available.
Hope you feel better soon.
What do you take/recommend?
Cambodia: where money can buy you absolutely anything except intelligence.
dontbeasourlemon
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Re: Stoked- I've got hookworm

Post by dontbeasourlemon »

I agree with Jack deworming is a must I think alot of people prefer Abendazole 500. Here are some of previous topics talking about parasites on here.


general-chatter/benda-500-for-intestina ... lit=Deworm

^Page 3 Kuroneko goes into a list of goodies^


ask-the-expats-questions-answers/wormin ... ilit=worms

newsworthy/one-third-cambodians-infecte ... =Parasites
Jack mehoff
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Re: Stoked- I've got hookworm

Post by Jack mehoff »

talltuktuk wrote: Thu Aug 15, 2019 8:39 am
Jack mehoff wrote: Wed Aug 14, 2019 11:03 pm I take and recommend taking an antiparascitic med every 6 months as a precaution against the numerous parasites that are transmitted commonly in the region. The treatment was recommended by a Dr and is supported by the WHO. The meds are very cheap and easily available.
Hope you feel better soon.
What do you take/recommend?
In Cambodia I pick up the same meds as the original poster. It seems to be the most commonly available. I prefer to use Praziquantel which is also sold under the name Distocide. I stock up on it while in Vietnam. My preference for Praziquantel is due to it being effective on a wider range of tapeworm and seems to be easy on my stomach. I would advise staying away from Wormz brand antiparascitic in Cambodia as that med had a recalled batch that was not pulled by all pharmacies less than 1 yr ago. Some people were having a bad reaction, including as expat I occasionally travel with.
Last edited by Jack mehoff on Fri Aug 16, 2019 1:17 am, edited 2 times in total.
bittermelon
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Re: Stoked- I've got hookworm

Post by bittermelon »

double post
Last edited by bittermelon on Fri Aug 16, 2019 12:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
bittermelon
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Re: Stoked- I've got hookworm

Post by bittermelon »

Thanks for the "well wishes" people. Actually despite being a bit painful- at its peak I'd put it at 6 on my pain scale, 10 being a dislocated shoulder-it's a bit of a laugh really, you know the thought of little creatures creating colonies under my skin is quite hilarious. And also if you're gonna do something you may as well do it properly, and the doctors were quite impressed- they'd seen hookworm before but never as many separate sites on one person. Several of them came in and took photos, holding a ruler for scale and saying "wow". I'm not good at much so it's nice to be a good hook-worm host.

Thanks for the info @Flexxman , not high-jacking at all. I wonder about the faeces bit, does that mean I was lying on shitty sand or can the worms survive in clean sand?

As for the heart failure thing, if I understood the doctor correctly I was lucky in having worms that entered via skin, then they just hang out there, if you ingest them they can do more damage.

2 days worth of pills and they seem to have settled down, guess tomorrows pills are just for good measure. Another one of those times that I am quite happy to live in 2019 and have access to modern medicine. Horrible to think of some guy out in the wops having these and having no way to do anything about them. Wonder what the cure is without these pills- scrape them out? or douse the area in kerosene or something maybe.
Jack mehoff
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Re: Stoked- I've got hookworm

Post by Jack mehoff »

bittermelon wrote: Fri Aug 16, 2019 12:59 am Thanks for the "well wishes" people. Actually despite being a bit painful- at its peak I'd put it at 6 on my pain scale, 10 being a dislocated shoulder-it's a bit of a laugh really, you know the thought of little creatures creating colonies under my skin is quite hilarious. And also if you're gonna do something you may as well do it properly, and the doctors were quite impressed- they'd seen hookworm before but never as many separate sites on one person. Several of them came in and took photos, holding a ruler for scale and saying "wow". I'm not good at much so it's nice to be a good hook-worm host.

Thanks for the info @Flexxman , not high-jacking at all. I wonder about the faeces bit, does that mean I was lying on shitty sand or can the worms survive in clean sand?

As for the heart failure thing, if I understood the doctor correctly I was lucky in having worms that entered via skin, then they just hang out there, if you ingest them they can do more damage.

2 days worth of pills and they seem to have settled down, guess tomorrows pills are just for good measure. Another one of those times that I am quite happy to live in 2019 and have access to modern medicine. Horrible to think of some guy out in the wops having these and having no way to do anything about them. Wonder what the cure is without these pills- scrape them out? or douse the area in kerosene or something maybe.
Glad you're feeling better. The 3 day treatment is to wipe out any eggs that hatched and are now in the larvae life stage. It wipes them out before they can produce eggs themselves and stops the cycle.
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