Doctors in Peru have removed a worm from a teenager's eye which is believed to have been there for around a month.

The patient arrived in the Children's Hospital in Lima with a very swollen left eye. Not long after being tested, medics discovered the worm, which had been living inside the boy for weeks.

The doctors used basil and a tweezers to get the parasite out of the 17-year-old's eye. The basil was used to lure the one-inch long worm out. Due to its size it could only be coaxed out a little. The tweezers was then used to fully remove the bug.

Ophthalmologist Caroline Marchena said if the worm had not been removed, it could have posed a serious risk to the boy's health.

"The location of the worm from the lower lid, which was getting bigger, made the risks increase because the youth's tissue was swelling in an area close to the sinuses that's close to the delicate part which is the triangle of death," she said.

Fortunately, the worm was removed in time and there was no long-term damage done to the young man.

Online Editors