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FAQs about Pet-fishing & Human Health: Trouble,
Fixing Related
Articles: Wounds Articles, Moray
Eels Bite, But Are They Venomous? by Marco Lichtenberger,
Related FAQs: Petfishing and Human Health 1, Petfish
& Health 2, Petfishing & Human Health 3,
& FAQs on: Petfishing Concerns: Getting
Poked, Spined, Stuck, Envenomized
(injected), Bitten,
Poisoning (ingesting), Skin et al.
Contact, Companion Animal Involvement,
Bacterial Infections, Parasitic Cross
Zoonoses, Turn About's Fair Play...
& Stingrays, |
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He's Got Worms Under His Skin (3/7/04)
Dear Sir: <Steve
Allen this AM.>
Can you help me identify these? I found
similar ones on www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasites under “Anchor
worm”.
<The link does not work for me and you did not attach a
picture.>
These red ones came out of my right leg and the large
T-shape in 2nd picture
<no picture received.>
came from my
right arm.
<Yuck!>
I dropped my cell phone in a Koi pond. I
already had existing sores from a parasite. My 6-year old is
showing the same signs.
The smaller ones in 2nd picture are from
her stool.
<Again, no picture. Odd that she would have aquatic
worms in her stools. Did she swallow some pond water? Pinworms are
very common in kids in the US. Where do you live. Ascaris worms are
a big problem worldwide, but seldom seen here.>
Any help would
be appreciated.
<Very simple advice John: You and your daughter
need to see a doctor this week! Call first thing tomorrow and get an
appointment right away! Do not delay any longer! Bring pictures or
actual worms with you. If your daughter still has worms in her
stool, take a sample with you in a clean Zip-Loc bag. It will hasten
her diagnosis & treatment.>
Thank you, John D. Day Dera
<You're welcome. I hope that medical treatment swiftly rids you of
these parasites and any attendant secondary bacterial infection.>
Parasite Follow-Up (3/7/04)
Thank you all for replying to my
e-mail. I personally have seen about 16 Drs ... Are we having fun
yet?
Thanks again for replying
<John: For brevity and to spare
the squeamish, I have omitted your extensive narrative of your saga
from this reply. No pix came through. If they're too big, they don't
get to us. All pics need to be compressed down to a manageable size
of no more than a few hundred KB. As for your long battle with this
health problem for you and your daughter, I really don't have
anything worthwhile to add. You are already seeking help from some
of the best docs around. I feel badly for the two of you. I
certainly hope that you get to the bottom of this soon and are both
restored to normal health rapidly. Steve Allen.> Re:
parasites?
Bob:
Check this out. I told him there's not any
more help we can offer via WWM.
His pix didn't come through. I
feel bad for this guy, but he needs to work it through with the many
doctors he's seen. I omitted the details of hi long narrative from
my posted reply.
Steve
<Very strange... to the point of
frightening. I would have this person go immediately to the "zootic
disease" part of the CDC for thorough diagnoses... there is no such
thing as "anchor worm" disease (a Branchiuran)
of humans... and
the mix of roundworms and complaints listed....? Bob F> |
Health Concerns (3/17/04)
Hi Crew, <Steve Allen tonight>
I wish to thank you for your help in the past with my evolving for
tank into a full blown reef system. <We are always glad to help.>
Through browsing your site I came across the sections regarding
bacterial and viral infections which could possibly be passed from
tank/animals to humans, especially regarding the "various
respiratory ailments" mentioned.
Tank specifications are:- 230G
marine FOWLR evolving slowly to reef. (I do siphon water out by
mouth for the record) <Many people do. I'd suggest spit & rinse
right away after, maybe even with Listerine, but I'm paranoid.>
I'll try to cut a long story short. 1yr 5 mths ago I had what I
though was a minor throat infection, the symptoms being a very dry
throat and later in the weeks that followed, the feeling of a golf
ball sized lump in my throat, bellow the "Adams apple" area. All
very frightening until one morning at 2am I found I could hardly
breath. I asked my wife to drive me to the hospital
ER unit which
she did. I was sent home with the diagnosis that I had a sore throat
!!!........That's another story!
Later that day I went back to
the hospital and was immediately admitted and put on antibiotics IV.
The resultant diagnosis was "Epiglotitis" (a swelling of the
vocal chords <actually, its the epiglottis, the lid that prevents
food from going down the trachea>) which can be very serious indeed.
<Scary disease, can be fatal. Many young children used to get this
from Haemophilus influenza B (Hib). Thankfully there's been a great
vaccine available for more than a decade. As a pediatrician, I have
not seen a childhood case in 10 years. It is rare in adults, but can
be caused by other pathogens. I almost lost an adult cousin to it.>
This all came with hundreds upon hundreds of tiny (but fairly
painless) ulcers which completely coated my mouth and throat.
<Definitely not Hib.> They tested for cancer and all else but had no
idea where this had come from........They were completely at a loss,
had no idea. Until, somebody asked "Do you keep any unusual
pets"?..............Well the answer was yes and still they were none
the wiser.
My question to you my good friends is, have you ever
heard of anything even remotely like this before? I am really
struggling to get anywhere with this as I am still suffering from
the lump in the throat and the very dry throat. This is over a year
now and although it comes and goes it is still of some concern.
<Understandable. I trust you have seen an ENT specialist and had a
laryngoscopy and perhaps an MRI. I am not aware of anything from
your tank that would likely cause such a thing, unless you have some
known toxic fish or invert in there. With your problem, I would
certainly advise not starting siphon by mouth, just to be safer.
Since no infectious pathogen was isolated and you are still having
problems, I'd suspect it is some sort of allergic/inflammatory
reaction to an irritant or toxin that you are inhaling from
somewhere. Do you get hives ever? Wheezing or asthma symptoms? Do
you work with hazardous materials in your job? It might be worth
consulting an allergist or an environmental physician.>
Any
help at all you may be able to offer will be very much appreciated
With much gratitude. <You're welcome. I hope this helps a bit. I
suggest you continue to work with your doctors on this one. I hope
this problem is solved for you soon.> Simon Health Concerns 2
(3/17/04)
Many, many thanks for your quick reply. <You're
welcome.> Yes I realize the swelling is the epiglottis but for
general purposes some people may not know where ones epiglottis is
;-) I have seen the ENT specialist and she had several looks at the
state of the epiglottis which was indeed very bad and according to
her if I had left it any longer I would not be here now! <Good thing
you went in>.> What is really puzzling me is the fact that they
cannot decide whether it is bacterial or viral? I would have thought
if it were viral then IV antibiotics would not have helped much but
they did reduce the swelling a great deal. <Bacterial diseases are
diagnosed by culturing bacteria from the infected area. Sometimes we
are unable to get anything to grow in culture even when it is there.
The fact that antibiotics helped suggest there was some bacterium
involved because, as you obviously know, antibiotics are not
effective against viruses. Specific viruses are more difficult to
diagnose unless there is a specific, unique syndrome such as chicken
pox. We often fail to get a definitive diagnosis in viral
infections.>
I am not presently suffering from any more of the
hundreds of little ulcers, have not had those for a year now so am
just concerned about the lump and the dryness in the throat. Never
had Hives. I do not work with any hazardous materials. Have had
several laryngoscopies. No asthma, no wheezing. <I just noticed you
hail from the UK. It sounds like you NHS specialists are being
thorough.>
Thank you so much for your prompt reply. This has
reiterated my own concerns ie the problem could be "environmental"
but I do have to get to the bottom of this. <Yes. I hope you do
soon.> Again if you hear of or find out anyone else has suffered
anything similar would you be kind enough to let me know. <Do
consider posting this dilemma on the forum at
www.wetwebmedia.com The forum "Zo's Bar & Grill" is read by a lot
of our users and if any o them have any ideas, they'll chime in.>
Cheers.........Simon <I hope you are restored to full health soon.
Steve Allen.> |
Another
Reason to Wear Gloves (9/12/04)
Hello, <Hi. Steve Allen with you
tonight.>
I have had a reef tank for about a year. It is thriving. I
recently set up a 2nd tank for a friend following the same procedures I
used on the first tank. The new tank has live sand, well cured live
rock, 3 mushrooms, a couple different polyps, a hammer head frag from
the first tank, and an Alveopora also from the first tank. There is also
a lawnmower blenny, snails, hermit crabs, sand star, sea serpent star, a
royal Gramma, bicolor Dottyback, and an orange spotted shrimp goby. All
inhabitants are doing well and have been in there for over a month.
There were two clown fish in there but they both died. The water tests
perfectly. Additives and food include all in one, Kent Iodine, Sea Lab
block, Marine Deluxe, Zooplex, BioPlankton, Formula One (frozen), and
silver sides.
The question is that I have painful and swollen
fingers. After about a week of this condition I went to the doctor and
told her I had a reef tank. She could find no other reason for the
injury and put me on antibiotics (Cipro). <I'm not certain that this
covers Mycobacterium marinum, which could be the source of your problem.
Read more about this in the wound FAQs. You might have your doctor look
for recent articles (appeared this year) about this in Annals of
Internal Medicine and The New England Journal of Medicine. I believe I
previously left references on the wound FAQ page.> I am seeing no change
in the condition and am wondering if you have heard or experienced
anything like this and what can be done about it. I have been doing some
research and ran across something called mycobacterium marinum. <Yup, as
above.> Some of what I am reading sounds like hand infections can turn
into a very serious problem. I am wondering if this is common in the
aquarium industry and what people do about it. <Yes. Smart people wear
gloves (long armed-ones are available at local or online fish stores) to
prevent it. The rest of us hope we never get it. I can't claim to be
among those who use gloves all the time, but I try to remember. ;) It's
like using a condom some or "most" of the time--sooner or later
something undesirable happens. It is also possible that this is a local
allergic or toxic reaction to coral venom (also preventable with
gloves), in which case an OTC antihistamine like Claritin might help,
but you need to consult your doctor before taking this. Sounds like you
need to go back right away if the Cipro hasn't helped.>
Both tanks
are very clean and meticulously maintained weekly by myself as well as a
service technician from my LFS. <This is no protection. Even a "clean"
tank is a veritable cesspool of germs. Remember, your animals pee and
poop (sorry, pediatrician talk) in it all the time, Would you stick your
bare hand in a "clean" toilet bowl? I think not.> I would appreciate any
advice you may have. <My primary advice is to go back to the doc and be
sure to mention M. marinum and coral venom.> Thanks. <I hope this helps
and I certainly hope your hands return to normal quickly and
uneventfully.> Toxic corals? 9/30/04
Hi please I need
help, I am very confused, all corals are toxic right?
<hmmm...
depends on your perspective/meaning: regarding filter feeding? (stinging
nature of Cnidarian animals)... regarding allelopathy (chemical warfare
against encroaching organisms)... poisonous nature if ingested or
harassed??
what corals are more toxic?, what corals are less toxic?,
<variable as you might guess... and as per the above definitions>
can a coral kill a human really?,
<yes... more than a few can.
Notably... palytoxin in Zoanthids. A historical use by Hawaiian natives,
et al when tipping spears for mortal combat>
I wont full my aquarium
with corals, but I don’t wont go to the hospital or die, please help me,
what corals you know not are dangerous?, thanks you.
<this is a
small concern with good husbandry/handling... really. No worries with
careful and proper handling as you do household chemicals, medications,
fumous agents at work/home, etc. Anthony>
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