Mechanical Asphyxia with Ascaris lumbricoides - A Forensic Case Report

Ascaris lumbricoides is a nematode (roundworm), a parasite which inhabits the intestines of humans. This organism is responsible for the infective disease named ascariasis (a type of helminthiasis) which is prevalent in deprived areas where there is often a combination of poor sanitation and a host made vulnerable by iron-deficiency anaemia, malnutrition or impairment of growth. We present a violent death case; A child aged two, who died of mechanical asphyxia that followed airway obstruction by worms of the species Ascaris lumbricoides. Death was considered a forensic case because it occurred suddenly and the child was not known with pre-existing pathological conditions. We examined this case according to the information received from the criminalistics team correlated with the macroscopic autopsy findings and histopathological examinations with results being consistent and which indicated the diagnosis of death aforementioned. The literature cites such deaths which occurred consecutively to trauma or post general anesthesia, but in this situation a possible previous injury was infirmed by necropsy and according to the criminalistics team data the child never suffered a general anesthesia, which makes us consider this particular case as a rarely seen one.