Here ’s some extra material for your nightmares : In a case report out this week , a group of scientist say they ’ve found a new mintage of nematode worm that ’s capable of invade our brains — one that normally plagues snakes . The discovery was made when they extracted a living dirt ball from an Australian woman ’s head word during surgery . Thankfully , the woman ’s parasitic intrusion appears to have been successfully treat .
The horrifying medical taradiddle was detailed in a paperpublishedMonday in the diary Emerging Infectious Diseases . According to the paper , the 64 - year - old charwoman was first hospitalized in other 2021 with symptom of long - lasting abdominal pain and diarrhea , as well as ironical cough and night sweats . Initial tests found signs of pneumonia ( lung kindling ) and lesions along her liver and spleen , but they could n’t identify a clear culprit for her illness , such as a bacterial infection or Crab .
She was diagnosed with pneumonia linked to the build - up of eosinophils , a type of white blood cell , and was finally exculpate and official steroid hormone . Though the intervention did seem to help a bit , the fair sex was hospitalized again within a month . Tests show that her body was still get more eosinophils than usual , which can be spirit - threatening if not managed by rights , but again fail to find any causal agent as to why this was happening . She was diagnosed withhypereosinophilic syndromeand continued to take sex hormone .
Image: r.classen (Shutterstock)
The woman ’s health improved for a clock time , and she was even starting to be wean off her treatment . But by former 2022 , she set out to experience worsening natural depression and trouble remember thing . MRI scans then revealed a lesion in her brain . In June , her doctors make up one’s mind to do a biopsy ( collecting a sample distribution of tissue paper for examination ) and that ’s when they made the disgraceful find — quite literally pull out a starkly red , know nematode from within the lesion that was about three - inch long .
While uncommon , there are several know species of worms that can cause mental capacity infections in human race . But the puppet ’s distinct coloring made it clear to the scientists that this was no typical brainworm . shortly enough , they discover their specimen as a third - stage larva of Ophidascaris robertsi , a parasitic tinea seen in carpet python , snake discover throughout Australia and neighboring regions . Genetic testing confirm their suspiciousness , ca-ca this the first document case of a human brain infection cause by this special worm .
The fair sex reported no direct contact with carpet python , but she did be in a lake field do it to have them . Her doc also note that she would routinely roll up vegetation around her home to use for cooking . They conjecture that she either directly ate worm egg from these vegetables or was expose to them through her contaminated hand or the kitchenware used to ready the food . Her initial progressing symptoms also indicate that the worm had spread to multiple organs , the authors say . Ironically enough , her later steroid discourse might have allowed the infestation to finally reach her brain by suppress her immune organisation .
The woman’s brain scan, along with the worm discovered inside her lesion.Image: Hossain et al/Emerging Infectious Diseases
Theseworm infestationsoften do n’t make visible symptom , and they tend to brighten up on their own without the need for treatment . The worms themselves ca n’t mature into full - spring up adult and eventually die off . However severe infestations usually require antiparasitic medicinal drug to forestall live worms from causing more trouble .
In this font , the doctors found no further grounds of worms in the charwoman ’s brainpower . But to steady down out any remaining invaders in her torso , she was give deworming medication , along with a less intense grade of steroids ( worms pass away can trigger an overzealous immune reaction ) . Six calendar month after her surgery and three calendar month after being tapered off steroids , her eosinophil level had revert to normal . Unfortunately , the woman ’s neuropsychiatric symptoms had improved but not completely recovered by that time .
head worm of any variety are not very uncouth . But this incident does reflect what can befall when humans come into contact with wild brute and their parasites , the author say . And it ’s likely that there are other presently strange species of tinea out there that can call our brainiac home , they warn .
“ In sum-up , this case underline the ongoing risk for zoonotic disease as man and animals interact intimately , ” they wrote . “ Although O. robertsi nematodes are autochthonic to Australia , other Ophidascaris species infect Hydra elsewhere , indicating that additional human cases may emerge globally . ”
handsInfectionTropical diseasesWorm
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