KOCHI:
A rare surgery was carried out at The Eye Foundation hospital, Edappally, to out an eleven centimeter long worm from the eyes of a 23 year old man.
The female worm was taken out from the eyes of an Ernakulum native through a complex surgery done by Dr, Praveen Murali and his team. This would bethe longest worm got from eyes. The patient came to eye foundation hospital with redness in his eyes and nothing wrong was found in the examination.
It was considered just as conjunctivitis after the flood, but the redness reappeared after a week. The patient was subjected to regular check-up and everything was found normal. Later the patient himself sent a video of something moving in the eye to Dr. Praveen. On examining the video, it was understood that there is a worm inside the eye. It took a month of efforts to find and pull out the worm. Further lab test showed the worm to be a female one which may even cause complete blindness.
“On further examining the patient it was made sure that the worm has not laid eggs in the eye.” said Dr. Praveen. Worms may enter in human eyes due to the bite of small insects and from water bodies like lake, river and ponds with dirty water in it. Dr. Praveen added that two wheeler drivers must use helmets with glass or quality sunglasses.