Parasites

Fletch_W · Dec 5, 2009

I watched a few episodes on NatGeo last night, I will never drink creekwater again. Anyone else seen this show?

One guy, Vietnam Vet, had a crazy parasite that had been incubating for 40 years in his body before it reacted, gave him permanent and crippling elephantitis of the legs and groin.

Another case, a baby in America, got some kind of brain-eating worm that paralyzed him and blinded him, and 80% of raccoons carry the eggs in their feces (raccoons are immune). So if a coon defecates in a creek, and you drink the creekwater... you will have a brain-eating worm.

Another guy who works as a weed sprayer for the power company in Oklahoma got Lung Flukes which are worms that eat your lungs and lay eggs. The worms/eggs are ingested through water or contamination, make their way through your blood vessels and settle in your lungs where they burrough in. The treatment is a drug that makes it impossible for them to digest food, so they just start eating like crazy while you hack up blood around the clock until they finally die and your white blood cells break them down, causing puss-filled lungs. That's the cure.

This show was case after case of just crazy parasites in America, and all are rare, but just dang.

Again, I will NEVER DRINK CREEKWATER AGAIN.

BBQBOSS · Dec 5, 2009

I don't remember which country it's in but there is a parasite that will swim up your urethra if you are swimming in the river and start urinating. Then it does real bad things to you.

Twenty five ought six · Dec 5, 2009

BBQBOSS said:
I don't remember which country it's in but there is a parasite that will swim up your urethra if you are swimming in the river and start urinating. Then it does real bad things to you.

That's actually a catfish in South America--the Candiru. If swims in, and spreads out it's little catfish fins so you can't pull it out. It's not truly a parasite.

But if you want one that's gross, check out the Guinea worm, that lives in your body until it decides to crawl out your skin, or your eyeball or whatever.

BBQBOSS · Dec 5, 2009

Twenty five ought six said:
That's actually a catfish in South America--the Candiru. If swims in, and spreads out it's little catfish fins so you can't pull it out. It's not truly a parasite.

But if you want one that's gross, check out the Guinea worm, that lives in your body until it decides to crawl out your skin, or your eyeball or whatever.

Now that you mention it, that sounds right. It's been a while since i saw the show but thanks for the clarification. Either way, lots of pain will be experienced with that one! :hair:

I will check out the Guinea Worm....

BBQBOSS · Dec 5, 2009

Why did i just google "guinea worms" and then click on images?!?!?!?! :banginghe

Dixie Dawg · Dec 5, 2009

I've never drank creekwater in the first place... you just never know who's done what in it.

modern_yeoman · Dec 5, 2009

Dixie Dawg said:
I've never drank creekwater in the first place... you just never know who's done what in it.

I know the %'s are lower.....but you could say the same about a bottle of Dasani...or Aquafini...

Redbow · Dec 5, 2009

There are parasites in most living things, some deadly some not ! I remember while in Nam everyone in our division got upset stomachs ! Come to find out our cooks were buying ice from the Vietnamese and they were freezing the water right out of the river with dead bodies floating in it and dead animals ! No telling what we got from that experience !!

Slingblade · Dec 5, 2009

I got to where I don't use ice in my drinks after so many trips to exotic places with "Don't drink the water" warnings.

Cindi · Dec 5, 2009

Parasites are nasty little creatures some worse than others. Eating undercooked meat at any fast food place will get you, too.

My ex had a doctor tell him once that we all have them, it's just a matter of what kind, so I sent away to Australia for a product that supposedly gets rid of roundworm, pinworm, hookworm and whipworms. It treated the whole family for about $40. I can't remember the name but can probably find what's left of it in the medicine box.

Anyway, we had no symptoms before and felt no changes after so who knows? We lived on a farm for 5 years around livestock and poultry and you can never be too careful. There's lots of research on it out there, Google brings tons of results.

NOYDB · Dec 5, 2009

Last articles I read in Science News stated that there are over 800 different types of bacteria that resides on and with in a *healthy* human being. That each population is unique to each person. By count there are more cells in your body that are different species of bacteria then there are human cells. There's more bugs than you there.

Then there are species of mites that live on our skin and hair. There are mites so specialized that they only live on eyelashes. Yes, you have them right now.

They've just started counting viruses. Since they learned how to do genetic analysis faster they've been able to determine what's you and what's a virus. They're finding numbers like, and predict it may exceed bacteria.

Just one example of what they are finding now. In Antarctica, in lakes that are frozen over all but a month or so each year they found over 10,000 types of virus, alive and well in that environment. Wonder how many they'll find in a more hospitable place like up your nose?

Murphy · Dec 5, 2009

BBQBOSS said:
I don't remember which country it's in but there is a parasite that will swim up your urethra if you are swimming in the river and start urinating. Then it does real bad things to you.

Then it does bad things to you? The first part is bad enough :smash:

Tugboat1 · Dec 5, 2009

Man, parasite are no fun at all! I've had intestinal parasites twice caught during some off the beaten path travels. Once in the Dominican Republic and again in Guatemala. I'm fairly cautious but have been known to throw caution to the wind. I believe parasites are more common than you would want to believe, even in developed countries.

But even worse, guess how they treat the Candiru problem. Truly frightening!

Blue Iron · Dec 5, 2009

I got girardia from creek water once, its bad stuff.............

Swede · Dec 5, 2009

Parasites don't mess with me

10,000 years of selective breeding

shakey gizzard · Dec 5, 2009

My kryptonite!

biggsteve · Dec 6, 2009

buddy of mine...he's 65 now..got worms from eating cooked DOG in 'nam, in the 60's. same worms his german shepard has. he takes the same meds. lol

Twenty five ought six · Dec 6, 2009

My ex had a doctor tell him once that we all have them, it's just a matter of what kind, so I sent away to Australia for a product that supposedly gets rid of roundworm, pinworm, hookworm and whipworms. It treated the whole family for about $40. I can't remember the name but can probably find what's left of it in the medicine box.

Shoot you got ripped off. You can stop by any convenience store and get a plug of Bull of the Woods for about $2.00 and it will do exactly the same thing. Plus it prevents you from getting sexually transmitted diseases too.

Throwback · Dec 6, 2009

Do like a friend of mine did once. They were middle school aged kids and were out "surviving" in a pasture and drank some creekwater. Later they walked about 1/4 mile upstream and there in the middle of the stream lay a dead and rotting cow.

He never drank creekwater anymore, either.

T

NCHillbilly · Dec 6, 2009

I trust parasite-ridden creek water further than I do chemical-filled city water. The human race has lived off creek water from the dawn of time until a few years ago. Creek water don't skeer me, just gotta drink enough of it to toughen yourself up. I dip enough Red Seal and drink enough likker to kill any parasite known to man, anyhow. :bounce:

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