FOODIES are being warned to be careful of what they eat to avoid taking in parasites.

Su Dongna, a doctor from the infection department at Shenzhen People’s Hospital, said that a parasite called plerocercoid usually parasitizes frogs, snakes, birds, rats and pigs. They could invade a person’s abdomen, subcutaneous tissue and muscle and even cause lesions if people eat them by accident.

A 42-year-old patient, surnamed Li, developed several small nodules on her stomach over a few years, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Saturday. She was given a surgery at the hospital a month ago. When the doctor cut open one of the nodules near the operative incision, a white 2-centimeter worm was found. It was a plerocercoid. The parasite had probably invaded Li’s abdomen because she had been fond of eating frogs since she was young, according to the report.

Another patient at the hospital loves eating crabs, sashimi and crawfish. The 36-year-old was diagnosed with paragonimiasis a week ago, which was caused by a kind of parasite called Paragonimus westermani. The parasite usually lives in crabs and crawfish, and has been dubbed a “long-lived parasite” because they can live between six and 20 years.

A 48-year-old patient, surnamed Wang, was found to have many small nodules on his stomach during a checkup. Several kinds of parasites were found in his body and he was also diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. He was a foodie who enjoyed eating snakes, sashimi, frogs and snails for many years.

One of the parasites found in Wang’s body was Clonorchis sinensis. Wu Minna, a doctor from the hospital’s infection department, said the parasite usually inhabits a person’s liver and could live anywhere between two and 30 years inside the human body. The parasites are often found in freshwater fish and shrimp and can cause neurasthenia and liver cirrhosis. (Zhang Yang)