Makiya K, Tsukamoto M, Horio M, Kuroda Y
Department of Medical Zoology, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu, Japan.
J UOEH. 1988 Jun 1;10(2):203-9. doi: 10.7888/juoeh.10.203.
A 55-year-old man in Okagaki Town, Fukuoka Prefecture, pulled a nasal leech from his nostril in July 1987, after suffering from nosebleed, copious running snivels as well as unpleasant foreign body sensation in the nasal cavity. Except for nasal septum deviation, no abnormality in the ears and mouth cavity nor bleeding, ulcerous and erosive changes in the nasal cavity were found. The formalin-fixed specimen of the leech was nearly black with no definite stripes or spots, and measured 3.5 cm in length and 1.2 cm in width. Because of these and the following characteristics, viz. 1) auricles on the posterior segment were absent, 2) five pairs of eyes were present in the anterior segments with the eye pairs 3 and 4 separated by an annulus, and 3) teeth were not observed, this specimen was identified as Dinobdella ferox. This nasal leech is found widely in Southeast Asia. In Japan, some human cases of its infestation have also been reported, mainly from southern Kyushu. The leech seemed to have entered the nasal passage of the present case from a stream at a hot spring in northern Kyushu. Attention should be given to nasal leech infestation especially now that many people in Japan are eager to visit isolated hot spring resorts.
1987年7月，福冈县冈垣町一名55岁男子在出现鼻出血、大量流鼻涕以及鼻腔内有异物感后，从鼻孔中取出一条鼻蛭。除鼻中隔偏曲外，耳部和口腔未发现异常，鼻腔也未出现出血、溃疡和糜烂等变化。这条用福尔马林固定的水蛭标本几乎呈黑色，没有明显的条纹或斑点，长3.5厘米，宽1.2厘米。根据以下特征：1）后段无耳状结构；2）前段有五对眼睛，第3和第4对眼睛之间有一环带隔开；3）未观察到牙齿，该标本被鉴定为凶猛鼻蛭。这种鼻蛭在东南亚广泛分布。在日本，也有一些人体感染这种鼻蛭的病例报告，主要来自九州南部。这条水蛭似乎是从九州北部一个温泉的溪流进入该患者的鼻腔的。鉴于现在日本有很多人热衷于前往偏远的温泉胜地，应特别注意鼻蛭感染。
