Gordius worm found in a three year old girl's vomitus.
Since the Gordius worm is a parasite of crickets and several arthropods, cases of humans infected with this worm have been rare and accidental. A Gordius worm was obtained from a three-year-old girl who consulted a local clinic in Gwangju, Kyunggi-do, Korea. She lived in a rural area, and had eaten an insect that looked like a cricket. She expelled the worm in vomitus 15 minutes later; in fact, she expelled two worms, but one was discarded. The worm had a grayish white color and an intact outer surface. It was 16 cm in length and 0.6 cm wide. The posterior end of the worm was spirally enrolled and furcated into two caudal lobes, which were nearly cylindrical but showed a somewhat concave medio- ventral surface. The cloacal aperture was round and situated anterior to the point of bifurcation of the lobes. The cloacal aperture was encircled by a dark ring, which was a little removed from the aperture. The crescent fold was reddish brown, and no hairs were noticed over the entire body surface. The worm had the morphological features of a male Gordius. Accidental human cases involving the Gordius worm are rare and this is the first such case in Korea.
Lee
Kyu Jae
KJ
Department of Parasitology and Institute of Tropical Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 134 Shinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, Korea.
Bae
Yong Tae
YT
Kim
Dong Heui
DH
Deung
Young Kun
YK
Ryang
Yong Suk
YS
Im
Kyung Il
KI
Yong
Tai Soon
TS
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006135:Gryllidae / Q000469:parasitology; D006376:Helminths; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014839:Vomiting / Q000469:parasitology*