Note, those are generally meningitis symptoms, so that was already pretty solid anxiety fuel if you wanted something to worry about whenever your neck is stiff!
I think it might actually be meningitis: "Although some people show no symptoms when infected, sometimes it causes a rare type of meningitis (eosinophilic meningitis). However, in most cases, the parasite will die over time - humans are not its preferred host."
There was a famous and tragic case of an Australian teenager who ate a slug on a dare, suffered a horrible illness, and eventually died from rat lungworm.
Responses like this are so shitty, and you should feel bad for making it. A lot of people do risky or silly things when they're teenagers - very few of them pay the price with their lives. I don't eat slugs either, but "dying a horribly painful death due to a worm in my brain" wouldn't be high up on the things I would have been concerned about (until I read about that story, that is).
But congrats on showing the world what a superiorly smart guy you are.
When I was six or so, my neighbors would burn a pile of leaves during autumn leaf raking season (this was apparently common back in the '70's). That year they included poinson ivy in the pile and the resulting smoke left the whole family with external (skin) and internal (lungs) poison ivy rashes.
The person in question was an adult around 19 years old. At this age one must surely know that eating bad foods would cause stomach problems, vomiting, etc.
Guy must have been intoxicated or had other problems to do such an abnormal thing. There’s a lesson here, but it’s fair to point out that lesson isn’t “don’t eat slugs” as most people already understand this.
At 19 most people are still firmly under the influence of peer pressure. Just because you're legally adult doesn't mean you're quite a fully formed person yet.
> At this age one must surely know that eating bad foods would cause stomach problems, vomiting, etc.
Probably worth it for the cool points in his risk assessment. Had death been part of the calculation he'd probably not have done it.
Can you give me an example of something you shouldn't have done and did? I'm curious to see if I'm gonna go "oh you're right, I did the same, so silly". My guess is no.
I think it's right that the punishment fits the crime, and for a dumb teenager that doesn't understand microbiology and parasites, I would cut him some slack.
Obviously I can't personally ressurect dead kids, but approving of death for ignorant behavioural errors, is a bit beyond the pale.
He was ~19 years old. If by that time one doesn’t know about microbes, or understands why eating random creatures raw is a bad idea, then they have significant issues.
Nobody’s approving anyone’s death either, your insinuations are unjustified.
Deep down you believe that this is due to you being better in so e way. The reality is that it’s dumb luck. You were a dumb kid like everyone else was. For all we know you spent all your time inside and were afraid of slugs. A kid died and snide comments about ‘personal responsibility’ add nothing.
Not eating slugs is not “dumb luck” and not all kids are equally “dumb”. Yes, kids are particularly vulnerable to groupthink and peer pressure and can’t evaluate risks properly, but that doesn’t make them dumb.
I grew up in a village, spent my childhood in gardens, on fields or playing in the dirt and *nobody* I ever knew would eat a slug or any other kind of creature for that matter. The thought never even crossed anyone’s mind, why the hell would you even do that?
Thank you for spelling my thoughts out so eloquently. Often times I start typing something out of hn and immediately get tired of explaining obvious stuff and end up doing a half assed job..
> The macrocyclic lactones (ivermectin, salamectin, moxidectin) and the imidazothiazole levamisole, were the most effective drugs, with IC50 ranging from 2.2 to 2.9 µM and a rapid onset of action. Albendazole, the most widely used anthelmintic in humans, had a slower onset of action, but an IC50 of 11.3 µM was achieved within 24 h.
Also mentions "pyrantel pamoate," which i think may be available in pet dewormer formulas.
I found a snail, only about 3mm long, in a thoroughly-washed arugula salad I made at home. They can be small enough to be easily overlooked and at the same time large enough to not wash through the holes of a colander, and they may be stuck on the leaves instead of falling out like stones.
Same here, on multiple occasions.
Probably very unscientific of me but I'm sort of thinking that rucola (arugula) may be more prone to slug hitchhiking than other greens?
That's in part why I tend to favor watercress, not without its share of nasty parasite risks [1] but have so far never found slugs in it.
I'm very thorough with my broccoli washing, and even the most densely packed broccoli florets will have insects right at the point they meet the smallest stem. I essentially stopped worrying about it - assuming - we're all eating bugs - maybe lots - and we don't see any widespread disease. But now maybe this is about to change, one more thing to add to my laundry list of anxieties :(
Leeks are easier than salad though. The part with the roots is "closed" so just cut off the tip and rinse a bit. For the end with the leaves you make a 3-4 cm lengthwise cut where the stem ends, then you can hold this part open and rinse under running water.
two of my family members are chemists at usda. they dont eat fruit or produce except the kind you can peel like oranges and bananas. plants are covered in feces, worms, pesticides and you cant sit there with a toothbrush scrubbing it all off. a quick rinse isnt going to do shit. especially for the pesticides. also its become clear that most plants arent good for your health even when they arent covered in terrible shit.
The parasite is mainly in Hawai'i (it reported said that many Hawai'ians do not eat salads anymore) and now Florida, expanding northwards in North America.
Up in Canada I've been eating my garden leafy greens, but experts say global warming and globalization are involved in the spread.
This year they found rat lungworm in Valencia, Spain. Experts are calling this an emerging disease problem, previously confined to tropic and subtropical countries.
because you live in a privileged fairyland. other worms, like those found in pork, are common in countries that dont eliminate them in the food supply. people get sick from drinking tap water. if north america had to drpemd on washing their hands to prevent worms instead of being babied by the gorvernmemt, wed be worse off than india.
wow you are remarkably stupid. i said the government babies us, which is true, and says nothing about whether i like or dislike the government. i will not be getting in touch because you are a vapid idiot.
I have so many questions! Can anyone comment on the significance of doing this research in a zoo? I'm guessing it was a crime of opportunity since that's where zoologists work and can easily collect dead animals, but what does that mean for the research? Is it likely to be a representative sample of animals in the wild, despite the exposure to exotic animals from all over the world? If they were exposed there and a population established itself among zoo rats, how likely is it to spread from there?
What's up with that life cycle? Rat to snail seems like a weird combo. Usually parasites' lifecycle is a little more obvious like Leucochloridium paradoxum which infects snails that are then eaten by birds, who spread the eggs via droppings, or Toxoplasma gondii which gives rats a hankering for cat pee. What's the deal with the snails? Did the parasite just evolve in a field somewhere, where snails frequently came into contact with field rat droppings?
I wonder how many more pathogens are just waiting for some lucky exposure to break into the human population. Even before COVID brought that idea front and center, I remember going down a wikipedia rabbit hole during the Ebola outbreak and there is some terrifying stuff out there like hendra and nipah viruses with >50% mortality rates.
Oh good, now I can be worried that every symptom of "getting old" is actually a brain parasite.