Anisakiase is an infectious disease caused by a parasite of the genus Anisakis sp., which is found mainly in shellfish, such as crustaceans, squid and fish contaminated with this parasite and, therefore, in crops where there is a habit of eating raw food, as in Japanese sushi, for example, there is an increased risk of developing the disease.
When people eat food contaminated with this parasite, larvae can reach the stomach and intestine, causing symptoms such as severe abdominal pain, fever, nausea and general discomfort that can occur within a few hours of eating sushi, for example. Therefore, if symptoms of infection appear after sushi intake, it is advisable to consult a gpation to identify the presence of larvae of this parasite, initiating appropriate treatment.
- Symptoms of Anisakis sp infection.
- May appear a few hours after ingesting the infected food.
- The main ones being:.
In addition, some people may also develop typical symptoms of allergic reactions, such as itching and redness of the skin, swelling of the face, or shortness of breath.
Your doctor may suspect anisakiase after evaluating each person’s symptoms and history, especially if the person has eaten raw fish or sushi. However, the only way to confirm the diagnosis is to perform an endoscopy to check for the presence of the larva inside the stomach or in the initial part of the intestine.
During endoscopy, if larvae are identified, your doctor may remove them with a special device that reaches your stomach through the tube used during endoscopy.
In most cases, infection of the anisakis sp larva. is treated during endoscopy. To do this, the doctor, after identifying the parasite, inserts a special device through the endoscope tube to reach the stomach and remove the larvae.
However, when this is not possible or when the larva has already spread to the intestine, it may be necessary to take a deworming, called Albendazole, for 3 to 5 days to kill the parasite and remove it in the faeces. In many cases, the body also ends up removing the larvae naturally, so it’s possible that many people don’t even know they’ve been infected.
In the most severe cases, where anisakiase continues to worsen after these two treatments, it may be advisable to have surgery to remove each larva individually.
Anisakiase is caused by the anisakis sp larva. and its life cycle begins when some aquatic mammals, such as infected whales or sea lions, defecate at sea, releasing eggs that eventually grow and form new larvae. These larvae are then devoured by crustaceans, which end up being eaten by squid and fish, and are also infected.
When these fish are caught, the larvae continue to grow in their meat and, as a result, chaos is eaten raw, the larvae will live inside the stomach and intestine of the person who ingested the infected fish meat.
The best way to avoid infection with this type of larvae is to cook fish and squid at temperatures above 65 degrees Celsius. However, when it is necessary to eat raw fish, as in sushi, it is recommended to take some storage precautions.
To store fish before eating, it should be frozen following the following guidelines:
The type of fish most affected by this larva is usually salmon, squid, cod, herring, mackerel, halibut and anchovies.
In addition, the larva is usually more than 1 cm long and can therefore be seen in the fish meat. So, if you are eating at a sushi restaurant, for example, you should pay attention to the pieces before eating.