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SCMP Reporters

A Chinese man who visited his doctor after suffering from severe tummy ache was found to have a giant tapeworm growing inside his stomach - after years of gorging on raw beef.
The 38-year-old patient told medics in Shiyan, China he had been vomiting and losing weight at an alarming speed.
He told them he had endured “abdominal pain and chronic anaemia” over the previous two years.
Doctors described their initial physical examination of him as “largely unremarkable” - but they found a tapeworm’s egg in his stools.
READ MORE: Horrific infestation: Experts stunned by tapeworm that spread cancer to man’s brain
They proceeded to gave him drugs until he eventually excreted the tapeworm - which measured a whopping 6.2 metres. 
It was later discovered the patient had become infected by the taenia saginata (beef tapeworm) parasite, caused by his love of raw beef, according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine published on Thursday.
Dr Jian Li, leading the study for Hubei University of Medicine, wrote: “The tapeworm attaches to the small intestine and can grow to be several metres in length. Humans are the only definitive hosts.”
The man has since made a full recovery - presumably following a change of diet.
READ MORE: Tapeworm in Chinese man’s brain four years removed by British scientists
Dr Li wrote: “At a follow-up visit three months later, the patient was asymptomatic, with recovery of appetite and weight.”


Chinese man suffering from tummy ache is found to have 6.2m tapeworm growing inside him - after years of gorging on raw beef

No Caption Available.

The tapeworm grew to 6.2metres. Photo: The New England Journal of Medicine

News

China

People & Culture

The 38-year-old patient told medics in Shiyan, China he had been vomiting and losing weight at an alarming speed
