Stomach-churning video shows live parasitic worm being removed from a man's eye

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Must see: 15cm-long worm being removed from a man's eye

A 60-year-old patient from India went to the hospital complaining about constant pain and itching in his eyes, but when a specialist examined him, he spotted a 15cm-long worm in his eyeball that had to be removed immediately. Watch to see the worm extracted from his eye.

This toe-curling video captures an almost 6 inches-long (15 centimeters) worm being removed from a man's eye.

The 60-year-old patient went to the New Medical Center in Kundapur, Karnataka, India, complaining about constant pain and itching in his eyes.

When specialist Dr. Srikanth Shetty examined him, he spotted the parasite in his eyeball.

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The worm – a parasitic ringworm known as a Wuchereria Bancrofti – had the potential to harm the man’s eyesight if it was not removed immediately.

“The challenge was to pull out the worm alive, as killing it inside the eye would have created complications," Shetty said. "It was also difficult to pin it down as it was moving around."

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"The patient has worms in his blood also and has been put on medication," Shetty said. "Extraction of a 15-centimeter long worm from the eye is a first here."

Wuchereria Bancrofti, a human parasite, is a major cause of lymphatic filariasis. These filarial worms are spread by a variety of mosquito vector species.