A five-inch worm was removed out of a Chinese man's brain which was in his body for 17 days. The 23-year-old said that he has been suffering from numbness in his hands and feet since he was six. He sought medical help only after losing sensation in the right half of his upper body. Doctors suggested that the patient's infection was caused by eating raw or half-cooked exotic meat like frogs or snakes. The worm was removed from his brain on Tuesday at the First Affiliated Hospital of Wuchang University in the eastern Chinese province Jiangsu. Tapeworm in US Woman’s Brain Shocks Doctors Who Thought it Was A Tumour; How Do Parasites Enter the Brain?

On conducting a CT scan, doctors found a twisted parasite inside the patient's brain. He was diagnosed with sparganosis mansoni, a rare parasitic disease. The man told doctors that he began experiencing numbness in his hands and feet about 17 years ago. He even had headaches and nausea at times. Chen thought that his difficulty in moving their limbs would be genetic as his parents had the same issue. Man Pulls Out 32ft Tapeworm from His Butt While on the Toilet; Watch Stomach-Churning Video (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT)

In 2015, the Chinese man eventually sought medical attention. By then he has lost sensation in the right half of his upper body. Chen said to Pear Video, "Half of my upper body was completely numb. couldn’t feel my hand and couldn’t lift it." While the doctors are trying to find out the exact cause of the condition, they said the infection is a result of drinking contaminated or consuming undercooked wild animal meat like snakes or frogs. Doctor Removes Three-Inch-Long Live Worm From Six-Year-Old's Nose in Vietnam, Video Goes Viral.

When Chen was first diagnosed at 18, the medics said that the surgery because would have to be removed as the location of the parasite was not suitable for operation. Now, after the surgery, the man is slowly recovering. It is estimated that the brain stayed in the man's brain for 17 years as he developed first symptoms while he was just six. Multiple such incidents have been reported from different countries, where people complained of pain only to find living worms in eyes, nose, ears and brains.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 29, 2020 05:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).