When the man was examined, he was confused but he had complained of pain in his groins a week before. Upon examination, he also had swelling on his right eye so in other to be sure if it was a neurological situation, an MRI was performed on his head and lesions were seen in his brain. In China, there was a report similar to this from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, where a 46 year old man was brought in after experiencing multiple seizures and headache for more than a month. with a CT scan, there was also calcification as he had multiple intracranial calcifications where calcium builds up in brain tissue and lesions inside his skull. When an MRI was done on him, the speckles on his brain were Cysts (Neurocysticercosis). Doctors were able to administer anti-inflammatory and anti-seizure medications, the Cysts was removed from his brain and intracranial pressure were reduced to keep him alive.
Both cases of lesions in their brains had cysts in their brain which is the home to Pork Tapeworm (Taenia solium) larvae. This tapeworm is usually associated with undercooked or uncooked pork meat. The terrible part of this tapeworm is that until it begins to infect the body and reproduce non-stop, it can be very difficult to confirm if they are in the body and the worst symptoms occur when the worm eggs have reached the brain.
People who house tapeworm eggs in their brain can experience multitude of symptoms including changes in behavior, intracranial pressure as a result of liquid build up in the cranial cavity, nerve and muscle impairment, and seizures. While it is a foodborne illness, it does a lot of harm compared to other foodborne illness.
According to Dr. Lee-Ann Jaykus, Anything harmful in a meat lives on the surface of meat and not inside the meat so cooking the meat will kill the harmful pathogens in them. But this is not the same for grounded or shredded meat. While you might want to eat fresh meat or fishes, it is important to refrigerate them at -4 degrees Celsius but the best way to save ourselves from any type of worm is to cook the meat up to the internal temperature of 70 degrees Celsius.
Post Reference
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/man-suffering-from-seizures-turned-out-to-have-tapeworms-in-his-brain-1.4704601 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm1810953 https://radiopaedia.org/articles/multiple-intracranial-calcifications https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/07/health/tapeworm-brain-trnd/index.html https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com/home/decision-support-in-medicine/pediatrics/cysticercosis/ https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/trichinosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20378583 https://www.seafoodhealthfacts.org/safety/parasites/ https://www.merckmanuals.com/en-ca/professional/infectious-diseases/cestodes-tapeworms/taenia-solium-pork-tapeworm-infection-and-cysticercosis
Image Reference
Image 1 || Flickr || Tapeworm proglottids Image 2 || Wikimedia Commons || Intraoperative Finding of Neurocysticercosis
