In recent years, with the steady improvement in living standards, the incidence of parasitic diseases has declined dramatically compared to the early days of the People’s Republic of China. Western medicine typically offers highly effective treatments for these conditions, making them increasingly rare in Chinese medicine practice. In over a decade of clinical work, I have encountered only three parasitic disease cases beyond the common roundworms, pinworms, tapeworms, and scabies. Recently, I treated a patient who had undergone nearly six months of unsuccessful Western medical treatment. After incorporating Chinese herbal medicine, his condition improved rapidly — which brought back some memories.

Patient One: A Schistosomiasis Case

The first parasitic disease patient I encountered was during my internship at Hangzhou Honghui Hospital in 2011. Every week, I would spend half a day shadowing Dr. Dong Shengqun. One day, a patient infected with schistosomiasis came in. Dr. Dong was practically “tickled pink” — he told me he hadn’t treated this disease in over twenty years. In the past, such cases were common in rural areas, often presenting with ascites by the time they were discovered, making treatment extremely difficult. I’m not sure why the disease seems to be making a comeback in recent years, but many doctors still fail to recognize it — particularly in Chinese medicine circles. At the time, I was young and had seen so few cases that I didn’t develop a systematic understanding of Dr. Dong’s treatment approach for this condition.

Patient Two: The Elderly Woman

The second patient I encountered was in 2017, while I was seeing patients at Heniantang. An elderly gentleman came to me for leg pain. His wife had a parasitic infection and was being treated by a senior TCM doctor practicing across from me. Whenever I had no patients of my own, the couple would come over to chat. The elderly woman had suffered from this condition for years and no longer knew its origin. She showed me numerous photographs — tiny black dots and flocculent particles. She said that every day, as soon as she took off her clothes, she would find many of these “parasite eggs” dropping off, accompanied by itching and, at times, the sensation of worms crawling under her skin.

I was quite skeptical at first. They told me they had taken the black specks and clothing samples to the Beijing Institute of Tropical Medicine at Youyi Hospital for testing. The lab confirmed the presence of parasites, but no parasites were detected in her blood, so a definitive diagnosis was never made. Western medicine had been ineffective, and they eventually turned to Chinese medicine as a last resort. I glanced at the prescription from the senior doctor across the hall — it was essentially a roll-call of every anthelmintic herb in the pharmacopeia. Leiwan (Omphalia) and Heshi (Carpesium) were just the beginning; he had even included Langdu (Euphorbia fischeriana) — a highly toxic herb I never expected to see in practice. Sadly, after more than six months of treatment, there was no improvement, and the couple eventually disappeared.

Patient Three: The Folk Remedy Gone Wrong

The third patient came to me in August, referred by a friend. His story was extraordinary: having believed a folk remedy, he had swallowed raw animal organs to treat a liver condition. Not only did the original liver ailment fail to improve, but he also contracted echinococcosis, schistosomiasis, and sparganosis simultaneously. After nearly six months of systematic Western medical treatment, parasites were still present and his blood biochemistry remained persistently abnormal. He was deeply distressed.

At his first visit, his lab results were as follows:

This gentleman had noticeable abdominal distension, woke up every morning at 4 AM, presented with a peeled coating at the base of his tongue, and had a thin, wiry pulse. He also had mild liver fibrosis. I prescribed the following:

This prescription embodies the principle of combining pattern differentiation with disease-specific medicinal approaches. Subsequent modifications were largely built upon this foundation. I studied at a university in Zhejiang and am very familiar with the local medicinal materials and the clinical thinking of Jiangnan physicians — especially the Chinese torreya seed (Feizi) in this formula. Northern practitioners may be less acquainted with it. Torreya is a specialty of Zhuji — a place famous not only for Xi Shi’s legendary beauty but also for this local anthelmintic remedy.

In addition to the herbal decoction, I asked the patient to take Dahuang Zhechong Pills (Rhubarb and Ground Beetle Pills). I had recently completed the National Advanced Teacher Training Workshop on TCM Classics, where Professor Lin Changsong from Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine had shared numerous clinical cases using this formula — so I was putting fresh knowledge straight to work.

After three weeks of treatment, the follow-up results were as follows:

The patient was thrilled. His liver function markers hadn’t looked this good in nearly a year. We continued with minor adjustments for another month, after which he was admitted to the hospital for a comprehensive evaluation:

By the end of October, the parasites were essentially gone, though some markers remained slightly abnormal. From a TCM perspective, I re-evaluated the pattern and revised the prescription:

After completing this course, the patient felt well, and Western medical examination confirmed clinical cure:

A few days ago, the patient returned for a recent cold and cough and delivered this good news. With this case, I have finally completed a relatively comprehensive treatment of a refractory parasitic disease. It is clear that the combined use of Chinese and Western medicine can produce remarkably synergistic effects — reducing toxicity while enhancing efficacy.

Finally, a reminder to all: do not blindly trust folk remedies — especially those with clear scientific evidence of bodily harm. Simply don’t do it.

这些年，由于生活水平不断提高，寄生虫病的发病率较建国初下降明显，西医往往有很有效的治疗手段，中医很难见到这类疾病了。我从医十余年来，除常规的蛔虫蛲虫绦虫疥虫外，仅见过三例寄生虫病，这俩月治疗了一位经西医治疗近半年无效的病人，加用中药之后迅速好转，不禁让我想起了一些往事。

第一个病人：血吸虫感染者

我见到的第一个病人是2011年在杭州红会医院实习时，我每周会去跟董圣群老师跟诊半天，有一天就来了一位血吸虫感染者。董老师对这个病人也是”爱不释手”，他说他已经二十多年没治过这个病了，以前在农村这种病人特别多，发现的时候往往都已经出现了腹水，治疗很困难。这些年不知道为什么似乎又有抬头的趋势，但是很多医生仍然不认识，尤其是中医。那时我年纪尚小，加上这个病人来的也少，没有系统掌握董老对此病的治疗思路。

第二个病人：老太太

见到的第二个病人是2017年在鹤年堂出诊的时候，有一个老爷子腿疼来我这治，他们家老太太感染了寄生虫，在我对面的老中医那治，我这没人的时候他们就来我这聊一聊。老太太受这个病影响多年，已经不知道病的源头是什么了，她给我看了很多图片，都是一些黑点点，还有一些絮状物，她说每天她一脱裤子就发现有很多这些”虫卵”，还往下掉，感觉挺痒，有时候还能感到有虫子在动。我那时候很怀疑这是不是真的，他们说曾经拿着这些黑点和衣服去友谊医院的北京热带病研究所化验过，确实找到了虫子，但是在血里面又找不到虫子，所以迟迟没有确诊，吃过西药不管用，最后只能求助于中医。我看了看对面老中医开的方子，那是把所有祛虫的药都用了，雷丸鹤虱这都不算什么，还开了狼毒，万万没想到居然还有这个药。但是很可惜，他们大概治了半年多，没好，最后不知道去哪了。

第三个病人：偏方惹的祸

我见到的第三个病人就是8月份经朋友介绍来治的这位患者了。他的经历非常传奇，由于听信了偏方，使用了生吞某动物器官的方法来治疗肝病，结果肝病没好利索，还感染了包虫、血吸虫和裂头蚴，经过西医系统规范治疗近半年，虫子仍然有，血液生化指标始终异常，非常苦恼。第一次来的时候指标如下：

这位大哥有比较明显的腹胀，每天早上4点必醒，舌根部剥苔，脉细弦，同时伴有轻度肝纤维化，处方如下：

这张方子体现了辨证论治和专病专药思想，后面大多在此基础上稍作加减。我在浙江读的大学，对那边的药材和江南医家诊疗思路非常熟悉，尤其是本方中的榧子仁，北方的同志可能不太知晓。香榧是诸暨特产，既与西施的沉鱼落雁之美有关，又是当地用来驱虫的特效药。除了中药方外，还让患者加服大黄蜇虫丸。那会我刚刚从全国中医经典高级师资研修坊毕业，广中医的林昌松老师给我们分享了很多大黄蜇虫丸的案例，属于现学现卖。

服用三周之后，检查结果如下：

病人特别高兴，快一年了肝功能指标从来没有这么好过，加加减减又吃了一个月，随后入院系统检查如下：

从10月底的检查结果可以看出，虫子基本上没有了，指标还有些异常，从中医的角度再次辨证后换方如下：

服完后患者感觉良好，经检查后西医认为已临床痊愈：

前几天患者因近期感冒咳嗽又来就诊，传达了此讯，至此我终于完成了一次比较完整的难治型寄生虫病诊疗，可见中西医并用能够达到十分明显的减毒增效作用。

最后提醒大家，不要听信偏方，尤其是有明确科学证据证实对身体有害的，千万别干。