Couples Romantic Beach Stroll Turns Into Gruesome Discovery(PICS)

Today is 'National Plan For Vacation Day' and I'm all about it.  You may, however, want to learn a little more about the beach you plan to stroll on during that romantic Caribbean getaway.  A Canadian woman and her boyfriend contracted larva migrans, known in layman’s terms as hookworms.  What happened to her feet after strolling the beaches of Punta Cana can only be described as 'gruesome'.

According to the New York Post Katie Stephens, 22, of Ontario, told CTV News that while staying at the IFA Villas Bavaro Resort in Punta Cana, she and her boyfriend, 25-year-old Eddie Zytner, “found that we were scratching our feet quite a bit.”

She claimed on her Facebook that she likely came into contact with the parasites while walking on the sandy beaches of their resort in Punta Cana.  Both Stephens and Zytner thought that the itching came from 'sand fleas' but ffter returning home Jan. 18, Zytner noticed his feet had become very swollen and small bumps had developed on his toes. It progressively got worse.  A doctor prescribed the two ivermectin — a medicine used to kill worms developing in the body and they have seen a dramatic improvement and expect a full recovery.