INTERVIEW: ‘Monsters Inside Me’ returns with nasty parasites
Monsters Inside Me, the creepy reality series from Animal Planet, finds horror not in the ferociousness of the mammal kingdom but in the deadly consequences of invasive parasites. In the show’s third season, which premieres Friday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m., viewers go deep under the skin, into the blood and to places that will make the average person cringe.
Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Dan Riskin, host of the TV series, in order to find out what not to eat and how you can protect yourself from these unseen monsters.
Of all the unfortunate cases on this season of Monsters Inside, everything from tapeworms to flesh-eating disease, is there one particular case that jumps out as the most horrific?
There’s something about having your face eaten slowly by single-celled organisms that turns my stomach, but having a leach up my nose, a worm in my eye, or a worm in my lungs doesn’t sound much better. I’ll just say, this show has something for everybody.
How can the average person avoid becoming an “unsuspecting victim” of a parasite?
In a nutshell, don’t eat poop. That means making sure your salads are washed with clean water, making sure you wash your hands before you eat, and making sure you’re getting your food from places where it won’t come into contact with fecal contaminants.
It’s also a good idea to make sure your food is properly cooked, but poop is far more dangerous.
Do you think Monsters Inside Me is educational?
Monsters Inside Me is a science show, and I mean that in a good way. A patient comes down with mystery symptoms, so doctors make a guess about what’s wrong, like “maybe it’s a staph infection.” Then they do the tests to see if that’s right. The tests come back negative, so they go on to the next guess. They keep doing this until they find the disease. That’s the scientific method. That’s how scientists function.
Monsters Inside Me is a wonderful way to learn about creatures so disgusting you’d probably never see them anywhere else, but along the way, you’re exposed to the scientific method. It’s a great show for young people, and I wouldn’t be surprised if future doctors and biologists say it helped make them become curious about science.
How do you and the show’s producers find some of these stories? For example, how did Kiera from Springfield, Ohio, come forward?
Our producers do lots of research, but sometimes people will email us with their stories. Parasite infections are A LOT more common than you’d think. Stories are pretty easy to find!
Have you ever been the victim of a parasite? (hehe)
Yes. I had a botfly once. That’s a maggot that feeds on your flesh for six weeks before coming out, about an inch long, falling to the ground, and turning into a fly. Pretty awesome. I got it in Belize. I had it removed before it was very big, though. I keep it in a jar at my desk at work. It’s a nice reminder of how common parasites are.
Where did you gain such an interest in this unusual subject matter?
I love biology because it’s full of disgusting, sad, exciting, or just plain old dirty stories that keep me interested. I get bored easily, and science is perfect for someone looking for distractions. I’m a bat biologist, and I’ve travelled around the world studying bats, but along the way I’ve gotten to see so many incredible animals, and learn things about them that make me see the world differently. Blue whales are beautiful, but when you know about the 30-foot worm that lives in the placenta of a blue whale, that makes the whales even cooler. Everyone loves rhinos but when you learn that they’re almost blind and communicate by pooping in one another’s territories, you see them differently. Science makes the beautiful world more beautiful.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
-
Monsters Inside Me returns with new episodes on Friday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. on Animal Planet.
My daughter was 11 when we came back from a fun Bahamas cruise last year only to come back to an inmediate nightmare when our daughter fell sick with vomitting and diharrea. I took her to the doctors the next day and he said it is just a virus and to give her lots of liquids. She continue to get worse and the next thing she need it 3 units of IV and then he asked for stool samples which were taking for ever to get results! that evening she continue to worsen with high feers of 104 and diluring! next day we went to the ER and their a wonderful doctor try to find out what was wrong with her and suggested to her pediatritian to stay over night for observation and her doctor disagreed!! I said to the ER doctor we are staying here cause nothing they gave her made her better but only worse! continuing with the vomitting and diharreas and very smeely ones!! I could not tell casue I came back with upper respiratory infection and could not smell a thing! until the next day a wondertful nurse took a sample of her latest stool and suggessted to her pediatritian to test for CDF Clostridium Deficil Disorder. We were put in quarentin after that cause they said it was highly contigious. We were told this happens at nursing homes with elderly,but we were not even close to have been in contact with that! one year later our daughter recuparate from it and I had the chance the see the ER doctor this year for my husbands emergency and told him what hse finally had and he said it was most likely the cause from a Conch cebichee we had in the Bahamas and the Chonch was raw!! it was very scary and our daughter was just about 50 pounds then and lost like 10 pounds more in 3 days! now we know that we have to wash our hand with just soap and water and not to trust to much on hand sanitizers.
WOW, HORRIFIC CASE HERE, I’M A VICTIM OF A EVIL GROUP, THEY STOLE OVER 100 VILES &JARS OF MOSTLY ANIMAL FLUKES AND PARASITES, THEY BLEW THEM INTO MY APARTMENT, BEEN FIGHTING FOR THE MEDICINE FOR LITTLE OVER 3 YEARS, TO DATE, MY BODY HAS MORE PARASITES THAN ANY OTHER, ALL THESE FLUKES & PARASITES MOSTLY COMES FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, I HAVE HAD TO CLEAN THEM TO PROVE I HAVE MANY, AND THE PAIN IS HORRIFIC, IF INTERESTED LET ME KNOW PLEASE I’M LETTING SOME GROW TO SEE WITCH ONE’S WITCH, AND THERE SURVIVAL RATE IS UNBELIEVABLE, SOME ARE STILL ALIVE AFTER 7 MONTHS BEING SAT ASIDE, AND GROW, BUT ALL OF THEM HAVE COME FROM MY ARMS LEGS FROM WITHIN, THEY EVEN CRAWL OUT MY MOUTH, AND POORS OF MY LIPS,