142 worms removed from a child in Chiapas; he arrived at the hospital with vomiting and abdominal pain.

In a case that shocked Chiapas and the rest of the country, a seven-year-old boy had to seek emergency care after experiencing vomiting, abdominal pain, and severe bloating for 48 hours. The reason? Dozens of worms lodged in his intestine .

Through Facebook, pharmacobiologist Abelina Gómez shared the case of a child who arrived at the emergency room at the Santa Cecilia Clinic in El Bosque, Chiapas, weighing 17.5 kg, with dry oral mucosa and a painful mass in the right iliac fossa.

For Dr. Andrea Gallegos, the specialist who treated him, the diagnosis was clear: intestinal obstruction caused by Ascaris lumbricoides , a parasitic roundworm .

According to chemist Abelina Gómez, the child required surgery due to the impressive number of parasites found in his intestine. In total, the doctors removed 142 worms .

They identified 53 of them as males, but the majority, 89, were female. The longest parasite measured 27 centimeters , while the smallest measured 10.5 centimeters.

Gómez explained that the minor underwent an enterectomy , a procedure that involves removing a portion of the small or large intestine, which allowed for the direct surgical removal of the parasites.

He added that, in this case, the intervention was timely on the part of the doctors and the patient's prognosis is favorable.

Abelina, who shared the case on social media, said the purpose of spreading the word is to alert the public about the presence of these parasites in the body, so they can prevent and avoid being sent to hospitals because of these organisms.

Ascaris lumbricoides is the largest and most common intestinal worm in humans , according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Adult worms live in the lumen of the small intestine, a tubular, internal space through which food circulates and where nutrient absorption takes place. The female can produce approximately 200,000 eggs per day .

The US National Library of Medicine states that most infections caused by the parasite Ascaris lumbricoides There are no symptoms, but when they occur, they may include:

• Coughing up blood (mucus from the lower airways)
• Cough, wheezing
• Low fever
• Expulsion of worms in the feces
• Difficulty breathing
• Skin rash
• Stomachache
• Vomiting or coughing up worms
• Exit of worms through the mouth or nose

The infected person may also show signs of malnutrition , so children tend to be the most affected population group and are more severely affected than adults.

Treatments to eliminate Ascaris lumbricoides include medications such as albendazole , which paralyzes or kills the intestinal worms. Most people recover from symptoms even without treatment; however, they may still carry the worms in their bodies.