Beach is always a place where we want to feel free and just walk around barefooted—enjoying nature. However, this woman experienced her worst nightmare during her family vacation to the beach recently.
According to World of Buzz, Nurul Ezzatul Akma shared that she went for a vacation with her family at the Port Dickson beach in Malaysia.
She posted her experience on Facebook, where she contracted a worm infection because of walking bare feet on the beach. She explained that the worm infection is known as Cutaneous larva migrans. Nurul revealed to WORLD OF BUZZ that it was her left foot that housed the worm. Eww!
She initially thought it was only a blister caused by her slippers—until a small lump that looked like it was filled with moisture appeared on the sole of her foot. But then the lines at the bottom of her feet started bulging out like it was swollen but didn’t think it was anything serious.
Nurul went to the masseuse for a massage and asked her but even the masseuse concluded that it was a nerve problem. However, after massaging her foot, Nurul also noticed that the bottom of her foot was incredibly itchy.
She sent out a post on Facebook with the picture of her foot with the weird bulging lines, asking her friends if they had any idea about just what was happening. A lot of them actually commented that it was a worm because they have read about this before. After much urging from her family members and friends, Nurul went to a private hospital in Ara Damansara on July 2 for a medical examination.
After the examination, the doctor asked if she’s been to the beach recently as it seemed that she had a worm burrowed into her skin.
The doctor confirmed that there’s definitely a worm in the sole of her foot and she contracted a worm infection—known as Cutaneous larva migrans due to walking bare feet on the beach.
The worm in her feet was identified as hookworm and the doctor verified that the cause of the worm was from cat or dog faeces. The doctor also explained how there’s a lot of worms at the beach because cats and dogs defecate around the area and the faeces would still be there because the sand on the beach is warm.
The doctor said that the worm was extremely dangerous and it could have gone up to someone’s bloodstream if they were not careful. Unfortunately, the doctor can’t remove the worm because they’re unable to identify the exact location of the worm.
Nurul was prescribed with a medicine that she should consume for three days and required to go to a skin specialist to remove the worm if there no changes after taking the medicine. Thankfully, she can no longer feel the worm moving after the third dose of her prescribed medication and is on her way of recovery.
Nurul advises everyone to learn from her experience and she encourages parents to ensure that their kids have footwear on when travelling anywhere.
She added that when she was driving previously, she does not wear slippers. Now, she wears slippers almost everywhere.
Please remember to wear your slippers or any footwear when travelling to places and keep an eye out for any weird things like these on your body!
References: worldofbuzz.com, en.goodtimes.my
