Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor:  Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

AsiaWire / Donghua Hospital

This is the wriggling two-inch leech plucked out of a young boy’s nose after he went to hospital complaining of a constant itch and a doctor found the slimy parasite living inside his head.

Doctor Li Wenbo, ENT specialist at Donghua Hospital in the city of Dongguan, in South China’s Guangdong Province, said the nine-year-old likely became a host to the parasite during a recent trip to his family’s countryside hometown.

The patient’s father brought him to hospital after the boy complained of a chronic itch in his nose.

A quick endoscopy into the boy’s right nostril revealed the wriggling parasite measuring some 6 centimetres (2.3 inches) living inside and feasting on his blood.

Doctor Lis aid: “The leech’s suckers were fixed on the nasal passage, so it was very unlikely to just fall out.

“It was also covered in a layer of slime, making it very slippery when trying to grip it.”

It took about 30 minutes for him to remove the leech, which can be seen wriggling around on a surgical tray.

He added: “It was probably very small when it first entered the boy’s nose, but it grew as it fed on his blood.”

According to the hospital, the most likely source of the leech is uncooked water, which the boy drank while staying in his family’s rural family home.

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