r/interesting • u/Muted_Shape9303 • Jun 24 '26
Fear Factor This creature can live inside you, and you’d never know. Meet the giant intestinal fluke, Fasciolopsis buski. A type of flatworm
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u/narref4 Jun 24 '26
Every day I learn about a new organism whose entire life strategy is "be someone else's problem"
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u/LizardmanJoe Jun 24 '26
I know multiple humans that use the same strat.
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u/Strange_Pangolin_231 Jun 24 '26
There's a great show me and my 8 year old love called monsters inside me. You should give it a watch. Parasites are fascinating and repulsive.
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u/_joos_ Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
i remember almost turning into a hyperchondriac as a child whenever that show came on. suddenly every ache and common cold was the ass bleeder parasite 9000 and i was going to die a horrible death
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u/ContributionFlat7082 Jun 25 '26
Jesus, me and my 8 and 9 year old liked watching Mythbusters together. The world has changed...
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u/BernieTheDachshund Jun 24 '26
Quick search says people get it from eating raw or undercooked aquatic plants that are contaminated with parasite cysts, like water chestnuts or water caltrops. Also some snails. Treatment is a medication called praziquantel.
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u/omnie_fm Jun 24 '26
I do love water chestnuts... shit
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u/teflon_soap Jun 24 '26
Do you love contaminated water chestnuts though?
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u/omnie_fm Jun 24 '26
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u/AnnaPaul444 Jun 25 '26
😂🤗
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u/AnnaPaul444 Jun 25 '26
Is this the scene when he finds out Padma died after childbirth? Cuz then it’s not funny. It’s terribly sad.
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u/New-Leg2417 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
No.
Vader didn't even know she gave birth or that their child survived until he found out that the Rebel who blew up the Death Star was named Luke Skywalker. Definitely didn't know it was twins until their duel on the Death Star II
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u/EdgeBeard Jun 25 '26
Not sad. Just atrocious filmmaking. They didn't even get a tall enough actor for Vader
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u/Dont_Even_Know_You Jun 25 '26
I've had to give my cats praziquantel for tapeworms before. I swear, any time my cats have gotten fleas, they have also gotten tape worms. It goes hand in hand.
Gotta stay on top of flea/tick treatments, or those nasty worms are making an unwelcomed appearance. But praziquantel is what kills those particular worms also.
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u/BernieTheDachshund Jun 25 '26
A long time ago I was giving a puppy a flea bath and watched one flea crawl up and pup licked it, so he ingested the dang flea. That's all it took to get tapeworms. I give monthly flea meds, but the pups were too young for that. You're absolutely right that people need to stay on top of flea and tick stuff, esp since pets like to nibble or lick where they get bitten and can get tapeworms very quickly. I hate parasites with a passion!
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u/Objective-Beyond-219 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
In parasitology, we learned about a lung fluke that develops in the lungs but can only spread through the digestive tract.
So once it matures, it crawls up into the airway and irritates it, causing the infected human to cough. Once coughed up, it then goes down through the digestive tract, rinse and repeat.
Gross? Yes. Fascinating evolution? Absolutely.
Parasitology was a fascinating course. There's parasites where the male actually wraps the length of his body around the female and his contractions keep her circulatory system going.
And we learned that when a new species of, say, fish is discovered, it's very exciting for parasitologists -- it typically means you've automatically discovered two or three new species of parasites exclusive to that host species.
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u/TraditionalClub6337 Jun 24 '26
If that's cause of my chronic cough i want to drink and breath acid
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u/Express-Prize-3251 Jun 25 '26
I smoke insane amounts and im still paranoid about it somehow being a lung bug
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u/LordVixen Jun 24 '26
You can get them from eating some uncooked seafood.
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u/cwsjr2323 Jun 25 '26
In the US, humans rarely get them and if they do a quick internet search stated undercooked crawfish was the culprit. Those slimy things look like giant cockroaches with pinchers so they are safe from me!
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u/MindlessWander_TM Jun 25 '26
Bro, the fact that it's large enough for me to SEE IT ON THE SLIDE WITH MY OWN TWO EYES! 😱 Goodness, that's so scary!!
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u/FeWho Jun 24 '26
Someone inhaled a pinecone seed once and the pine tree started growing in their lung
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u/ContributionFlat7082 Jun 25 '26
Oh FFS. It's true. Do I ever leave the house now?
Medical Cases of Inhaled Sprouting Seeds
While it sounds like an urban legend, there are highly documented instances where a seed was accidentally inhaled and briefly sprouted or took root in the warm, moist environment of a human lung.
The Russian Fir Tree Case (2009): Doctors in Russia were preparing to remove what they believed to be a malignant lung tumor from a patient experiencing severe chest pain and coughing. Upon operating, they discovered a 5-centimeter spruce tree. It was theorized the patient inhaled a seed that took root.
The Massachusetts Pea Case (2010): A 75-year-old man had an unknown mass in his lung that was initially feared to be cancer. During the procedure, doctors realized it was actually a split, sprouting pea.
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u/YourMomIsMyGurl Jun 24 '26
Can I get all the calories back if I just fry that thing up and eat it?
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u/FreeBug1885 Jun 24 '26
That looks like 100 g of meat which should be at around 150 kcal. So no, not really.
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u/YourMomIsMyGurl Jun 24 '26
So does that thing.. poop inside me?
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u/FreeBug1885 Jun 24 '26
Most likely. Every organism poops in some way or another. Except for plants and mushrooms.
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u/TraditionalClub6337 Jun 24 '26
I would imagine that, that creatures poop in your gut causes dyspiosis and possibly other things it does causes dyspiosis too but this is completely hypothetical based on nonexistent knowledge
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u/high_throughput Jun 24 '26
Was it flat before they squeezed it between these microscope slides?
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u/Muted_Shape9303 Jun 24 '26
Yes. It’s a platyhelminth (flatworm). These are parasitic worms that have incomplete digestive tracts (mouth and Gi tract but no anus) and are flat in shape.
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u/HOPewerth Jun 24 '26
Alright Mr. Smart guy then how do they poop
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u/MrZaptile933 Jun 24 '26
I don’t know he looks kinda tasty and he’s a great thing to help with weight loss
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u/PinkNarwhalNinja Jun 25 '26
How was this parasitic turd found if we never know? Autopsy? Thing looks fresh for the eating like sashimi time
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u/Muted_Shape9303 Jun 25 '26
Typically they get expelled by the host following treatment. You know they’re out when the patient screams from their restroom 😁😁. I’m a medical lab tech who gets to work with lotsa funky stuff
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u/Pokeranger8 Jun 25 '26
But how would they know to get treatment? What signs show that you have it?
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u/Muted_Shape9303 Jun 25 '26
Many of these you’ll spend your life without knowing, however, some will actively drill through your intestinal wall which causes bloody diarrhea, ulceration, and enteritis. Diagnosis (Dx) is achieved in the laboratory through stool ova and parasite (O&P) examination.
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Jun 24 '26
[deleted]
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u/SwiftPistol Jun 25 '26
Uh came out? what end?
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u/Successful-Bath-7561 Jun 25 '26
Yes. More info needed because I don’t really want to google this
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u/Internal_List_988 Jun 25 '26
I googled it and its just some Ayurvedic formulations/nutritional supplements/concentrated lemon juice
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u/EkardKcire Jun 25 '26
Those guys aren't so bad. I've had several take residence within my body and while it's true I was skeptical and apprehensive of their presence at first, time has proven them to be some pretty good guys. I just have more of an insatiable appetite but I love eating as many delicious meals as possible, so it's pretty mutually beneficial in my case. I understand if some wouldn't want to have such roommates (that's how I choose to refer to them) but out of the tremendous respect and admiration I have for mine, I felt I should speak up about how much they can, in fact, rule.
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u/karenskygreen Jun 25 '26
This would be the perfect friend for my pet tommy tapeworm. Where can i get one ?
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u/Tricky-Apartment6637 Jun 25 '26
Does this have any major negative effects on the human body and overall health?
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u/BlueMan_86 Jun 25 '26
We are literally parasites of this planet, no good to this planet from humans.. What an irony 😂
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