Vietnam War veterans could be slowly dying from a parasite they contracted in the southeast Asian nation almost 50 years ago, according to new research, The Associated Press reported.
The small pilot study was commissioned by the Department of Veteran Affairs, the AP reported, and looked into the connection between a rare bile duct cancer caused by ingesting liver flukes through raw or undercooked fish.
The parasite is slow-acting and decades can pass before symptoms appear, but the onset is often sudden, painful and fatal.
Some infected people don’t ever feel sick, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but symptoms include fever, malaise, abdominal pain, abnormal liver tests and a white blood cell count associated with parasites, among others.
Around 25 million people are infected with the parasite around the globe, the majority in Asia, according to AP.
Fifty blood samples were collected and 20 percent came back positive or “bordering positive” for liver fluke antibodies, the AP said. The tests were conducted by tropical medicine specialist Sung-Tae Hong at the Seoul National University in South Korea.
“It was surprising,” he told the wire service.
Vietnam veteran Gerry Wiggins, who served from 1968 to 1969, was one of the participants to test positive for the liver fluke antibodies, he told AP.
“I was in a state of shock,” Mr. Wiggins told the news service. “I didn’t think it would be me.”
Further testing revealed he had two cysts on his bile duct with the potential to develop into cancer called cholangiocarcinoma.
• Laura Kelly can be reached at lkelly@washingtontimes.com.
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