CHINA — A man plagued by parasitic worms under his left eyelid took to social media for advice after doctors told him they are unable to treat him.

The man, surnamed Liu from Henan province in China, posted his plea for help on short-form video platform Douyin last Thursday (Feb 23). 

Filming a video of parasites wiggling under his left eyelid, Mr Liu wrote: “The parasite under my eyelid made me visit many hospitals but without any cure. Has anyone heard of this condition or know of any expert doctors to recommend to me?” 

The video received 25,000 comments and 94,000 shares and was picked up by multiple news outlets.

Mr Liu said he first experienced symptoms during Chinese New Year this year when he felt “his eyelids jumping”. His parents assured him that it was a common neural reaction, he told Chinese media.

Later, his eyes started itching again and he noticed the worm emerge for a split second.

He visited several hospitals in Henan but to no avail. Doctors were stumped upon seeing Mr Liu’s condition. A doctor with 40 years of experience told Mr Liu he has seen parasite cases, but never under someone’s eyelids. 

Doctors advised against operating on his eyelids while the worm remained underneath. They said that the parasite would just move to another area once they started operating. 

Chinese netizens expressed horror and sympathy at Mr Liu’s predicament. Some speculated about the cause of the parasitic infection. 

“According to Baidu, the main source of parasites are on pets. Is it possible that you were infected due to regular interaction with your pet?” asked one Douyin user.

“I’m scared to keep a pet cat now,” said another.

According to health website Healthline, toxocariasis is a type of parasitic infection that is most often found in domestic dogs and cats.

It is not known if Mr Liu owns a pet.

In a follow-up video, Mr Liu postulated that he got the parasitic infection from when he was working in Cameroon in central west Africa. 

“This parasite infection might be from when I worked in Cameroon for a year. I had a body check up after returning and had an abnormal reading in one category for my blood test, but did not think much of it,” Mr Liu explained.

African eye worm is a parasitic worm from West and Central Africa, according to medical news site Medical News Today. Affected patients typically contract the infection after repeatedly being bitten by deerflies.

Once inside the body, the parasite reproduces and can migrate to different tissues.

A symptom of the African eye worm is a worm that crawls across the eye’s conjunctiva, the lining on the surface of the eye and inside the eyelid, reported non-profit United States medical centre Cleveland Clinic.

Mr Liu did not state if he had been bitten by deerflies during his time in Cameroon.

He said that following netizen’s recommendations, he will be visiting a specialist in Beijing. He was seen checking himself into a hospital in Beijing in a video post in Douyin on Tuesday (Feb 28).