Parasite from Vietnam War may be killing U.S. veterans
Link examined to rare bile duct cancer
HERALD, W.VA. • A half a century after serving in Vietnam, hundreds of veterans have a new reason to believe they may be dying from a silent bullet: test results show some men may have been infected by a slow-killing parasite while fighting in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
The Department of Veterans Affairs this spring commissioned a small pilot study to look into the link between liver flukes ingested through raw or undercooked fish and a rare bile duct cancer. It can take decades for symptoms to appear. By then, patients are often in tremendous pain, with just a few months to live.
Of the 50 blood samples submitted, more than 20 per cent came back positive or bordering positive for liver fluke antibodies, said SungTae Hong, the tropical medicine specialist who carried out the tests at Seoul National University in South Korea.
Gerry Wiggins, who served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969, has already lost friends to the disease. He was among those who got the call.
“I was in a state of shock,” he said. “I didn't think it would be me.”
The 69-year-old, who lives in Port Jefferson Station, N.Y., didn't have any symptoms when he agreed to take part in the study, but hoped his participation could help save lives. He immediately scheduled further tests, discovering he had two cysts on his bile duct, which had the potential to develop into the cancer, known as cholangiocarcinoma. They have since been removed and — for now — he's doing well.
Though rarely found in Americans, the parasites infect an estimated 25 million people worldwide. Endemic in the rivers of Vietnam, the worms can easily be wiped out with a handful of pills early on, but left untreated they can live for decades without making their hosts sick. Over time, swelling and inflammation of the bile duct can lead to cancer. Jaundice, itchy skin, weight loss and other symptoms appear only when the disease is in its final stages.
The study 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 servicerelated benefits, mostly because they were not aware of a possible connection to Vietnam.
Veteran Mike Baughman, 65, said his claim was granted early this year after being denied three times. He said the approval came right after his doctor wrote a letter saying his bile duct cancer was “more likely than not” caused by liver flukes from the uncooked fish he and his unit in Vietnam ate when they ran out of rations in the jungle.
“Personally, I got what I needed, but if you look at the bigger picture with all these other veterans, they don't know what necessarily to do,” he said.
“None of them have even heard of it before. A lot of them give me that blank stare like, ‘You've got what?' ”
I WAS IN A STATE OF SHOCK. I DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD BE ME.