title: Nasopharyngeal bleeding due to leech bites in a 9-month-old infant.
abstract: Leeches are annelids, comprising the subclass Hirudinea. There are freshwater, terrestrial and marine leeches. Haemophagic leeches attach to their hosts and remain there until they become filled up with blood and then they fall off to digest. Leech bites can manifest various symptoms, which lead to anemia. Here is reported, a case of leech bites in a 9-month-old infant, with a long history of hematemesis, melena, epistaxis and anemia which demanded repeated transfusions. So, leech bites may be a differential diagnosis of anemia particularly in the endemic rural areas where villagers use non boiled water.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. jafariroohi@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Amir Hossein
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Jafari Rouhi
authors.forename: Saman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vegari
authors.forename: Samad Shams
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Vahdati
authors.forename: Davod
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Porhosein
authors.forename: Ghazaleh
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Davarnia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004844:Epistaxis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D007492:Iran; D007865:Leeches; D008297:Male; D009305:Nasopharynx
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