This kid tried to beat the flu, but ended up with a bug instead.
A Chinese hospital’s attempt to cure a toddler’s flu backfired disgustingly after a worm infiltrated his IV tube. The hospital has since apologized for the interloper, which the father has blamed for giving his son a bacterial infection, reports the South China Morning Post.
The skin-crawling incident occurred Sunday at People’s Hospital of Leshan in Sichuan, China, where the 3-year-old was being treated for the flu, according to his father, surnamed Huang. The routine procedure took a revolting turn after the father noticed an “unidentified object” in the IV tube.
Huang initially thought it “was something dirty outside the tube.” However, a closer inspection revealed that it was “something like a worm.”
Naturally, the appalled pop was none too pleased about the disgusting discovery. A video shows him berating the hospital staff, yelling, “This is my son’s infusion bag. There’s a worm inside,” and “I’m furious.”
He asked them to remove the tube, whereupon the boy developed red marks on his back. His father chalked the spots up to a bacterial infection contracted from the IV worm.
The complaints didn’t fall on deaf ears — the hospital has since taken full responsibility for the incident.
Fortunately, the boy’s symptoms weren’t serious and he was released Tuesday after a 17-hour observation period. But not before the tube was bagged and given to the boy’s family.
Chinese social media is still skeptical of the unusual contamination.
“How did the worm get in? Aren’t the syringe and needle single-use items?” says one critic. “Did the hospital keep these supplies inappropriately? Otherwise, it’s the manufacturer’s problem,” says another.
The Henan province-based medical equipment firm even inspected the tainted tube, claiming that it was the first time they’d received a complaint about a worm in an IV.
In the realm of revolting bug incidents, the boy’s pales in comparison to the saga of a man who had a family of cockroaches hatch in his ear.
