2025-08-13T11:15:22Z

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Imagine living with a red, blurry eye for eight long months, only to discover that the culprit isn't a simple infection but a wriggling worm! That's the unbelievable reality for a 35-year-old man in India, whose distressing journey took an eye-opening turn when he finally sought help.

After months of discomfort, the man visited an ophthalmology clinic where doctors quickly diagnosed a shocking problem. His left eye was not just bloodshot and inflamed; it was home to a tiny worm that was 'moving sluggishly' around the back of his eyeball. Can you imagine finding out that your vision troubles stem from a parasite?

In the case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, specialists described how the man’s vision was already deteriorating to 20/80. With urgency, they performed a pars plana vitrectomy—an eye surgery typically reserved for more conventional issues, but here it was used to extract a living, squirming invader. Through small incisions in the sclera (the white part of the eye), they used a suction device to remove some of the jelly-like vitreous humor and, astonishingly, part of the worm's tail.

And yes, the worm was still wriggling as it was pulled out! Under microscopic examination, it turned out to be Gnathostoma spinigerum, a notorious nematode known for its terrifying ability to invade the eyes of its unsuspecting hosts.

These worms aren't just random intruders. They are endemic in India, primarily infecting carnivorous mammals like wild cats and dogs. In their primary hosts, they create tumor-like growths within the intestinal walls. When these masses burst, they release eggs into the environment, completing a life cycle that can involve fish, amphibians, and even birds—talk about a stomach-churning cycle of nature!