A 22-year-old woman visited the healthcare organization on Saturday complaining of headaches, weakness, high fever, fatigue, and swelling of the eyelids, which started six days ago. The physician realized that the woman’s eyes were pink during the examination. The healthcare provider questioned the patient about her diet over the past one week, and the sick person confirmed that she cooked meat which caused abdominal discomfort. The clinician asked the patient to take a blood test to test trichinosis signs. The results identified an increase in eosinophils, a specific white blood cell type; therefore, the young woman had trichinellosis. The healthcare provider informed the patient about the results and explained that the illness is a roundworm infection caused by eating undercooked meat (Etewa et al., 2018). The parasites known as Trichinella infect animals that eat meat (carnivores), such as foxes. They are also found in omnivorous, for example, wild pigs (Etewa et al., 2018). Therefore, the clinician related the symptom to the meat eaten by the young woman several days earlier.
The larvae take a few weeks to develop into adult worms which bury themselves inside the muscles after traveling through the arteries. The patient was educated about trichinosis’s risk factors, including improper food preparation, noncommercial or wild meat consumption, and residing in the countryside (Etewa et al., 2018). Therefore, the clinician told the woman to clean meat grinders more often, freeze pork and cook meat until the cuts turn brown. The healthcare provider prescribed albendazole, a first-line trichinosis’ antiparasitic drug. However, the clinician explained that the patient should feel better in approximately 7 to 10 days, although she might experience mild gastrointestinal aftereffects. The woman was informed that the illness might take a few months to heal, although fatigue, diarrhea, and headache might take years.
Reference
Etewa, S. E., Fathy, G. M., Abdel-Rahman, S. A., Abd El-Khalik, D., Sarhan, M. H., & Badawey, M. S. (2018). The impact of anthelminthic therapeutics on serological and apoptotic tissue changes induced by experimental trichinosis. Journal of parasitic diseases, 42(2), 232-242. Web.