Toddler’s ‘constipation’ turns out to be giant worms crawling through his guts that he ended up vomiting up
MEDICS were shocked to learn a little boy’s constipation was in fact dozens of worms blocking his digestive tract.
The three-year-old was rushed to a hospital in Indonesia after he was left bloated from not having pooed in three days.
Doctors, at Soebandi General Hospital in Jember, East Java, diagnosed him with constipation – that was until he started vomiting live worms.
The child had recently moved to Jamber from Bali, where he spent most days playing barefoot with friends in the river.
In Jember, he often tagged along with his grandparents to help collect rubbish at the landfill.
At home, his mum usually fed him by hand, and he drank unboiled water straight from the local source.
Blood tests showed the boy was anaemic, caused by iron deficiency – which can be a warning sign of a parasitic infection.
This is because some worms feed on blood in the intestines, leading to chronic blood loss and reduced iron levels.
An X-ray of the boy’s stomach revealed grey masses that doctors, writing in the Journal of Medical Case Reports, said were indicative of an “intestinal obstruction”.
The surgical team decided to operate.
During the procedure, they discovered three different areas in his small intestine that were completely blocked by worms.
These blockages stretched from the upper to lower parts of his gut.
To remove them, surgeons made a small cut in his intestine, about 50cm from where it joins the large bowel, and gently squeezed – or “milked” – the worms out.
They then stitched the intestine back together and sent the worms to a lab for testing.
They were confirmed to be Ascaris lumbricoides, a type of roundworm that can grow up to 35cm long and live in the human gut.
They typically spread through contaminated food, water, or soil, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Children can become infected by walking barefoot on contaminated ground or playing in areas with poor sanitation, it added.
These worms can cause a range of health issues, especially in children — including stomach pain, blocked intestines, and difficulty absorbing nutrients, which can lead to poor growth and development.
In more severe cases, the worms can travel to other parts of the body, causing breathing problems or infections.
After surgery, the boy was given fluids, antibiotics, and a deworming medicine called pyrantel pamoate.
He recovered well and was sent home a week later with albendazole – another anti-worm medication – to finish his treatment.
“Intestinal obstruction is a rare manifestation of ascariasis [worms] but should be considered, especially in an endemic area,” the doctors wrote.
“Poor hygiene and sanitation may influence this massive condition.”
In the report, the medics mentioned a similar case in Cameroon, west Africa.
The four-year-old boy had dozens of parasitic worms removed from his body after he complained of feeling constipated, according to another article published in the Journal of Medical Case Reports back in 2019.
Common mistakes putting you at risk of worms
People often put themselves at risk by:
- Not washing their hands properly after using the toilet or changing nappies.
- Scratching the anal area (common with threadworms) and then touching surfaces or food without washing hands.
- Walking barefoot in areas where the soil might be contaminated (a risk for hookworms, more common abroad).
- Eating under cooked meat or fish (a risk for tapeworms) or unwashed fruits and vegetables.
- Not treating everyone in the household at the same time, leading to re-infection.
Look to avoid these things as best you can.