(Editor’s note: Some believe this could be said for anyone eating fish in this manner. Our heart goes out to the families of the victims.)
A new study has revealed that veterans who returned to the U.S. after fighting in the jungles of Vietnam a half-century ago, may now be dying from a “silent bullet” in the form of a slow-killing parasite.1
“Liver flukes, parasites that infect a human when raw or undercooked fish is eaten, are being investigated as the cause of a rare bile duct cancer among veterans who served in the Vietnam War. It could take years for symptoms to show up, but when they do, the host is left with tremendous pain and given just a few months to live.
The Department of Veterans Affairs this spring commissioned a small pilot study to look into the link between liver flukes and the cancer. More than 20 percent of the 50 blood samples submitted to the study came back positive or bordering positive for liver fluke antibodies, said Sung-Tae Hong, the tropical medicine specialist who carried out the tests at Seoul National University in South Korea.”2
In the early stages of the disease, the parasites can be killed in infected humans through drugs. However, they can also live in humans without treatment for decades because no symptoms show up. But, over time, swelling and inflammation of the bile duct can lead to cancer. In its final stages, jaundice, itchy skin, weight loss, and other symptoms appear.
“The VA study, along with a call by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York for broader research into liver flukes and cancer-stricken veterans, began after The Associated Press raised the issue in a story last year. The reporting found that about 700 veterans with cholangiocarcinoma have been seen by the VA in the past 15 years. Less than half of them submitted claims for service-related benefits, mostly because they were not aware of a possible connection to Vietnam. The VA rejected 80 percent of the requests, but decisions often appeared to be haphazard or contradictory, depending on what desks they landed on, the AP found.”3
Sadly, the number of claims submitted has gone up slightly but is still low because the VA hasn’t done enough to encourage vets, who ate raw or undercooked freshwater fish while in Vietnam, to get ultrasounds or other tests. Hence, we may still see a surge in cases. If you are a vet from Vietnam or one of your loved ones is, please encourage them to get tested.
