A shocked influencer discovered a “grim” parasitic worm living inside her toe after enjoying a dream holiday.
Lucía Pombo – who is currently appearing in the Amazon Prime docuseries ‘Pombo’ with her influencer family members – recently travelled to Tanzania, east Africa.
Over the last few weeks, she shared numerous posts about her trip with her 460,000 Instagram followers.
While in Africa, she said she contracted cutaneous larva migrans – a skin disease caused by parasites of the hookworm family.
She posted images of one long parasite apparently living in her right foot.
Lucía explained: “From hospital to hospital, I’ve had an intense itch in my toe for several days.
“I thought it was a bite or reaction to something, but it turns out it’s a worm.
“I noticed it moving.
“They recommend that I go to the hospital to have it removed as soon as possible.”
She described how the parasite wriggles around inside her foot, calling it a “grim” experience.
So much so, that she joked that they would prefer that doctors “amputate my foot” than have to suffer the icky sensation any longer.
The influencer added: “It was better to live in ignorance and think that it was just a rare allergic reaction.”
Doctors told her that the deworming process may take a long time for the larva to die off.
She asked her followers: “Does that mean it’s going to stay dead inside me? Will it disintegrate? I don’t understand anything.”
However, it is not considered a serious condition, and normally the larva will disappear within one to six months.
Doctors can prescribe medication to speed up the process due to the unpleasant sensation the parasites can cause when moving around.
