A woman’s stomach cramps turned out to be 150 worms wriggling around in her belly.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, they were all around ten inches long.
Neha Begum, 22, from Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh, in northern India, went to hospital on January 2 after suffering extreme abdominal pains and vomiting for more than a month.
She was rushed into surgery after an intestinal obstruction was diagnosed, but doctors were not expecting to find what they did.
A team at KG Nanda Hospital discovered 150 live worms in her stomach.
Dr Anand Prakash Tiwari, a medic at the hospital, said: ‘I was shocked. This was an extremely unusual case.
‘We have come across cases with three or four earthworms but this is the first time we have come across such a huge number.’
Luckily the doctors discovered the worms before they travelled to her brain and caused serious neurological damage.
Begum had visited other physicians but they had all sent her home with pain medication.
‘I was in extreme pain for weeks. It was awful,’ she added.
‘I suffered so many sleepless nights and I used to scream with the pain and vomiting.
‘But now it’s like I have a new life. I am very thankful to the doctors here for ending my problem.’
Dr Tawair said the worms had formed in her body as a result of an ‘unhygienic lifestyle’.
‘The eggs of such worms are usually found on green vegetables and in unpurified water, which is why doctors always suggest that vegetables need to be thoroughly washed before being consumed,’ she said.
‘Basic hygiene can avoid problems like these. These worms get into the bloodstream and then grow inside the body.’
