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| - Fact Check: Smartphone can be a health hazard, but it does not cause eye worms
A video of a patient suffering with Loa Loa worm infestation is being circulated on social media with the false claim that eye worms can develop due to excessive use of smartphones.
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India Today Fact Check
The patient whose eye is being operated in the viral video was suffering with Loa Loa worm infestation. This worm is passed on to humans through certain kinds of flies and not smartphones.
A disturbing video of a medical procedure where a long worm is being extracted from a person’s eye is viral on social media with the claim that excessive use of smartphone over a long period of time had developed this worm inside the eye.
A Facebook user shared this video with the caption, “These visuals show the removal of a parasite from the eye of a person who used to play games for long duration on his smartphone.”
We have not embedded or hyperlinked the video due to its graphic nature.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral video was that of a Kerala-based patient who was being operated on his eye, which was infested with the Loa Loa worm in 2013. This problem occurs due to certain kind of flies and not smartphones.
This video is extremely viral on Facebook.
AFWA probe
After reverse searching the keyframes of the viral video, we found that it is a chunk of a longer video which was posted on the Facebook page of Dr Ashley Mulamoottil on 18th April 2013.
Dr Ashley Mulamoottil is the Medical Director and Chief surgeon of Mulamoottil Eye Hospital and Research Center, Kerala.
In the original video, Dr. Mulamoottil was explaining that the patient whose eye was being operated on had come to him with severe eye pain. On close examination, he felt the presence of some living object inside the eye. Eventually, it turned out to be an 8-inches-long worm called Loa Loa, which is endemic to Western Africa.
Further in the video, he states that Loa Loa worm infestation is mainly caused due to certain kinds of flies. These flies cause a tear in the human skin and lick the blood.
During this process, they transfer the larvae of the worms to the human body. This worm grows mostly inside the eye but can also be found in the brain, heart, lungs or even under the skin. In order to keep this worm at bay, one must keep his surroundings clean.
Distortion of Video’s Audio
It is noteworthy that while the actual video has a proper voiceover and mug shots of Dr. Mulamoottil, the viral video does not have any audio. The intentional muting of the voiceover helps in changing or distorting of the standalone visuals.
Can smartphones lead to eye worm infection?
We contacted ophthalmologist Dr. Naveen Gupta from Noida to find out if, under any given condition, it is possible that excessive use of smartphones might lead to eye infestation with worms.
Ruling out any such possibility, he said, “Excessive use of smartphones can lead to several psychological and physiological problems, but it cannot be the reason for the occurrence of eye worms.”
Continuous exposure to blue light from smartphones could damage retinal cells and can even cause cataract and eye cancer, according to UC Davis Eye Center.
Also, playing games on a smartphone for prolonged periods might lead to depression, as per ScienceDaily.
Thus, it is evident that though excessive usage of smartphones can harm our mind and body in numerous ways, it cannot lead to the growth of eye worms.
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