Fact Check: Smartphone can be a health hazard, but it does not cause eye worms

A video of a patient suffering with Loa Loa worm infestation is being circulated on social media with the false claim that eye worms can develop due to excessive use of smartphones.

A disturbing video of a medical procedure where a long worm is being extracted from a person’s eye is viral on social media with the claim that excessive use of smartphone over a long period of time had developed this worm inside the eye. A Facebook user shared this video with the caption, “These visuals show the removal of a parasite from the eye of a person who used to play games for long duration on his smartphone.”