According to the CDC WeChat official account, eating crabs was just the time. Whether it's drunken crabs, choked crabs, or freshly grilled crabs, they have become the "darlings" of the dining table due to their unique taste. However, if the diet is not appropriate, there may be huge health risks hidden behind this "fresh" taste: eating raw or half cooked crabs may allow lung flukes to quietly invade the human body, causing lung fluke disease. What is paragonimiasis? Paragonimiasis, also known as paraphimosis, is caused by paraphimosis (commonly known as lung fluke), which requires two intermediate hosts to complete development: the first intermediate host is freshwater snails, and the second intermediate host is crustaceans such as freshwater crabs and crayfish (not crayfish). The eggs of lung flukes hatch and develop into larvae in water, then enter freshwater snails and develop into cercariae; Afterwards, the cercariae escape from the snail and enter the water, infecting freshwater crabs, crickets, and other crustaceans, and eventually developing into cysticerci that can infect humans. If a person eats raw or undercooked crabs or crickets containing cysticerci, the cysticerci will detach from the human digestive tract, crawl through the intestinal wall, and become juvenile worms. These child worms are very good at "drilling", moving through tissues and passing through various organs and abdominal cavities, then crawling from the surface of the liver or through the liver or directly from the abdominal cavity through the diaphragm to the lungs, and finally growing into adults in the lungs. They not only damage lung tissues, but may also spread to multiple parts of the body such as the brain, spinal cord, liver, and subcutaneous tissue through the blood or lymphatic system. What are the symptoms of schistosomiasis? After being infected with lung flukes, the symptoms of patients vary from person to person, mainly depending on the number of infected parasites, the parasitic site, and the patient's resistance. During the acute phase of infection, general symptoms such as fever, fatigue, decreased appetite, abdominal pain, and diarrhea may occur, which are easily overlooked. Severe cases may experience systemic allergic reactions, high fever, abdominal pain, chest pain, cough, shortness of breath, liver enlargement, and accompanied by urticaria; The total number of white blood cells increases, and eosinophils also increase significantly. As the infection progresses, the movement of the parasite can cause varying degrees of damage to multiple organs. Therefore, the clinical manifestations of chronic lung fluke disease are more complex, mainly divided into chest lung type (the most common) according to organ damage, with cough, chest pain, and coughing up jam like or rust colored sputum as the main symptoms; Abdominal liver type, with symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and bloody stools. When invading the liver, it can cause liver damage or liver enlargement; Subcutaneous type, subcutaneous masses may appear and most of them are migratory; Cerebrospinal type, commonly seen in adolescents, is characterized by paroxysmal severe headaches, hysterical seizures, epilepsy, paralysis, and other symptoms. How to diagnose? The diagnosis of paragonimiasis relies on epidemiological history, clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and imaging examinations. Finding the eggs of lung flukes in sputum or feces is the gold standard for diagnosis. Blood tests (detecting antibodies against lung flukes), chest X-rays, CT scans, and other imaging examinations can assist in diagnosis. The commonly used medication for treating schistosomiasis is praziquantel, which should be taken according to medical advice. How to prevent it? The key to preventing lung fluke disease is not to eat raw or half eaten freshwater crustaceans such as crabs and crickets. Whether it is raw drunken crabs, pickled crabs, cold mixed crab meat, or crabs or crayfish that are not fully cooked during grilling or steaming, they may contain live lung fluke cysts. Therefore, crabs and crayfish must be thoroughly cooked and cooked before consumption. Secondly, pay attention to dietary hygiene and avoid drinking untreated raw water, especially when engaging in outdoor activities. Do not drink raw water from streams and lakes indiscriminately. In addition, to prevent cross contamination, knives, cutting boards, containers, etc. used for handling raw crabs and crayfish should be strictly separated from tools used for handling cooked food and direct entry food. After use, they should be cleaned and disinfected in a timely manner to avoid contamination of other foods with cysticerci. (New Society)