>A friend of mine acquired a whip worm infestation from, she
>thinks, eating a peach from Chile that she failed to wash before
>ingesting.
>She's had it for awhile now, and has had several therapies.
>I dont know the medicines, but the current one is very strong and
>they seem to building up an immunity to it.
>Is there a list of medicines available - western and herbal-
>for killing the pesky little devils off on the web?
>The western medicines are not working and we were wondering
>if there are any chinese or korean remedies known to be effective.
>This is a serious parasite to have, and, she's had it about a year
>now.
>any help would be appreciated, I'm getting quite concerned for her.
>thank you,
>Birdie
Dear Birdie:
Although your friend COULD have gotten the infection from a Chilean peach,
there is a better chance that she got it locally, from any fecally
contaminated ground vegetable or water he/she ate or drunk. Fruits that grow
high on a tree are not common sources of whipworm infection and the infection
is not particularly abundant in Chile.
Regarding treatment, there is a number of medicines that are quite effective
(levamisole, fenbendazole, ivermectin, to name a few) but the treament must be
directed by a physician.
I would not trust any of the "exotic" teatments; none of them have proved to
be effective.
Omar O. Barriga
