Doctors are warning sushi lovers to be careful after an increase in the number of parasitic infections.
They say there is an unseen hazard of eating raw or undercooked fish and seafood.
BMJ Case Reports describes how a 32-year-old well man was found to have anisakiasis after eating sushi.
He presented with severe upper gut pain and vomiting, and had a fever for a week. A blood test indicated mild inflammation, and the area below his ribs was tender.
An endoscopy revealed the larva of a worm-like parasite firmly attached to an area of swollen and inflamed gut lining.
After the larva was removed, the man’s symptoms cleared up straight away. Laboratory analysis showed that the larva belonged to the species Anisakis.
Although most cases of anisakiasis are in Japan, where a raw fish diet is very common say the authors, it is on the rise in the West.
Researcher Dr Joana Carmo, of the Hospital Egas Moniz, Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Ocidental, Lisbon, Portugal, says clinicians to consider the condition in patients with pain, nausea, vomiting and other complications, such as bowel obstruction and bleeding, who have recently eaten raw or undercooked fish.
Carmo J, Marques S, Bispo M et al. Aniskiasis: a growing cause of abdominal pain! BMJ Case Reports 12 May 2017; doi: 10.1136/bcr-2016-218857 [abstract]
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