Gross out contest: The worst Parasite or DISEASE IMAGINABLE! (GRAPHIC!)

[radwriter0555]

For my first nomination, I present the giant kidney worm.. YECK.

[Wonk]

1. Necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating bacteria)

http://images.google.com/images?q=necrotizing+fasciitis&safe=off

[Malva Zebrina]

2. eeeewww

these little critters are really cool too--lice and scabies

[mike_c]

7. those are both lice....

The one on the left is the human head louse, and the one on the right is the pubic louse. Scabies are mites (MUCH tinier than pubic lice):

[soleft]

3. The Fluke Worm from the X Files episode (The Host)

[Vitruvius]

4. Worst parasites? Bu$h, Cheney, Kenny Boy, Rummy, and Rethugs in gen'l

Bloodsuckers all -- and they're bleeding this nation dry...

[UrbScotty]

6. I was going to say that, too!

Bloodsuckers!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

5. Screwworms

Screwworms, the larvae of the screwworm fly, are parasites that cause great damage by entering open wounds and feeding on the flesh of livestock and other warm-blooded animals, including humans. The New World screwworm fly (Cochliomyia homivorax) is native to the tropical and sub-tropical areas of North, South, and Central America, while similar but less damaging species occur in the Old World.

After mating, the female screwworm fly lays her eggs in open wounds. One female fly can lay up to 400 eggs at a time, and as many as 2,800 eggs during its lifespan of about 31 days. The screwworm grows to more than 1 cm inside the wound within a week of entering the wound. The full-grown larva then drops from the wound, tunnels into the soil, and pupates before emerging as an adult screwworm fly. Left untreated, screwworm-infested wounds lead to death. Multiple infestations can kill a grown steer in 5-7 days.
http://www.cabi-bioscience.ch/wwwgisp/gtc5cs9.htm

[mike_c]

8. the candiru, Vandellia cirrhosa, the Amazonian vampire fish....

When candirus parasitize humans, it is usually only when they are skinny-dipping while urinating in the water. The candiru tastes the urine stream and follows it back to the human. It then swims up the urethra and lodges itself somewhere in the urinary tract with its spines. Blood is drawn, and the candiru gorges itself on both the blood and body tissue, its body sometimes expanding due to the amount of blood. This is all said to be very painful for the poor person who has this happen to him or her. Unfortunately, they are almost impossible to remove due to the spines. Amputation of the private areas is the cheapest, and most life-changing, way to remove the fish. Actual surgery is extremely expensive and involves inserting the Xagua plant and the Buitach apple up the urethra. These two plants kill and even dissolve the parasitic fish. If surgery is not done in time, the blockage of the urinary tract will prove fatal. The candiru is the only known vertebrate to parasitize humans.



Just to recap, the customary treatment involves a machete, which the victim finds preferable to the pain caused by the fish.

on edit: REALLY GROSS IMAGES!

[Dookus]

9. I'm...never... urinating... again...

[supernova]

10. Not even in the shower?

:shrug:

[THUNDER HANDS]

11. ding ding ding

And the winner is.....

The penis fish!

:o

[Kamika]

12. that worm

where does it come from it's friggin huge

[mike_c]

13. let's look a few more fun worms....

Ascaris lumbricoides, the human intestinal round worm, here shown in a single mass "passed" from the intestinal tract, presumbably through the anus. I'll bet that was one memorable move....





Wuchereria bancroftii, the elephantiasis filarial worm.

I'd better stop now....

[Kamika]

14. lol

Am i the only one strangely fascinated by all this :D