A 42-year-old woman from the United Kingdom, Lowri Denman, was found to have 38 parasites lodged in her brain after a trip to India in 2007. The parasites, which formed cysts, caused severe headaches, recurrent seizures, psychosis, and other neurological complications, according to a BBC report.
How the Infection Was Discovered
In 2010, Denman experienced a startling health scare when she passed a nearly one-metre-long tapeworm while using the bathroom at a restaurant. Initial medical tests appeared normal, but her health deteriorated over the following year. In 2011, she suffered her first seizure. Brain scans later revealed 38 parasites in her brain, leading doctors to diagnose her with neurocysticercosis.
Cause of the Infection
Doctors believe Denman contracted the infection during a three-month trip to India in 2007. Although she avoided eating meat to reduce the risk of food poisoning, she is believed to have unknowingly consumed pork contaminated with microscopic eggs of the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium. These eggs can cause neurocysticercosis, a serious parasitic infection that affects the brain.
Symptoms and Treatment
The parasites formed cysts in Denman's brain, leading to severe headaches, recurrent seizures, psychosis, and other neurological complications. She was initially treated with antiparasitic medication and steroids. Later scans showed significant swelling around the parasites, causing symptoms including confusion, numbness, tingling sensations, paranoia, severe anxiety, and panic attacks. Her condition became so severe that she had to leave her job, move in with her father, and spend six months in a neuropsychiatric hospital. The treatment eventually killed the parasites, eliminating the need for surgery. She returned to work in 2022.
What Is Neurocysticercosis?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), neurocysticercosis is a preventable parasitic infection of the central nervous system caused by the pork tapeworm Taenia solium. It is one of the leading causes of epilepsy worldwide. The disease develops when tapeworm larvae enter the bloodstream and travel to the brain, where they form fluid-filled cysts.
Transmission of Neurocysticercosis
According to WHO, people can become infected by eating undercooked pork containing tapeworm larvae, consuming food or water contaminated with Taenia solium eggs, or through poor hygiene practices that allow tapeworm eggs to spread.
