Nasopharyngeal bleeding due to leech bites in a 9-month-old infant.
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.
Jafari Rouhi
Amir Hossein
AH
Department of Emergency Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. jafariroohi@yahoo.com
Vegari
Saman
S
Vahdati
Samad Shams
SS
Porhosein
Davod
D
Davarnia
Ghazaleh
G
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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