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Man discovers reason for non-stop cough. Leeches living inside his nostril and throat

Medical examination revealed that there are two live leeches inside the man and causing trouble.

Updated on: Nov 28, 2019, 19:51:14 IST
Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
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When a 60-year-old man went to a doctor complaining of non-stop cough, he never expected the reason behind his illness to be live leeches. What’s even scarier is that the creatures stayed inside his body for more than two months.

The doctor pulled out the leeches with help of a tweezer (representational image). (Pixabay)
The doctor pulled out the leeches with help of a tweezer (representational image). (Pixabay)

The man, hailing from China, coughed up phlegm and blood when he finally decided to go see a doctor, reports Daily Mail. He went to Wuping County Hospital’s respiratory department to get checked. However, an initial CT scan didn’t show anything unusual. That’s when the medics decided to run a procedure called bronchoscopy. It’s a procedure which helps doctors in examining the patient’s lungs and air passages.

The examination revealed that there are two live leeches inside him. While one of the creatures was in his right nostrils, the other was in his throat.

Dr Rao Guanyong gave local anaesthesia to the man before pulling out the leeches with help of a tweezer. He believes that the creatures ended up inside him when he drank water from mountain streams. Thankfully, the patient is better now and recovering.

“When he drank water [containing the leeches], it was likely that they were very small and undetectable by the naked eye. In the past month or two, the leeches have sucked the patient’s blood and grown,” the doctor told Pear Video, cited Daily Mail.

Earlier this month, a man was suffering from a sharp pain inside his ear along with continuous itching. It was discovered that the discomfort was caused by a family of cockroaches living inside his ear.

Also Read | Man complains of itchy ear, doctor discovers live spider nesting inside

  • Trisha Sengupta
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Trisha Sengupta

    Trisha Sengupta is a Chief Content Producer at Hindustan Times with over six years of digital newsroom experience. Specialising in high-engagement storytelling, she blends viral trends with traditional journalism to cover the intersection of technology, finance, and human emotion. Her reporting spans real estate and personal finance struggles in hubs like Bengaluru and Gurgaon, the NRI experience, and corporate shifts like tech layoffs. Trisha also frequently tracks global figures and writes human interest stories. Offline, Trisha is an avid reader, history enthusiast and solo traveler. She balances her journalism career with family life while actively integrating AI tools into her modern storytelling approach.Read More