By An 8cm (3in) worm has report been discovered living in the brain of an Australian woman, marking a first for the scientific community.
During surgery in Canberra last year, the “string-like structure” was removed from the patient’s injured frontal lobe.
The woman had what medical professionals described as a “unusual constellation of symptoms” included stomach pain, a cough, and night sweats that progress to amnesia and despair.
Up to two months can have passed with the red parasite present.
Brain
Researchers are issuing a caution because the instance shows how much more dangerous it is for humans to contract diseases and infections from animals.
According to Sanjaya Senanayake, an infectious diseases physician at Canberra Hospital, “everyone [in] that operating room got the shock of their lives when [the surgeon] took some forceps to pick Upon closer inspection, the anomaly was discovered to be a wiggling, living, 8 centimeter light red worm.
Even if you ignore the gross issue. This is a brand-new virus that has never been seen in a human before.
The carpet python, a non-venomous snake that is prevalent throughout much of Australia, frequently carries the Ophidascaris robertsi roundworm.
According to experts, the woman most likely acquired the roundworm by picking Warrigal greens. A native plant, next to a lake not far from her home.
Australian parasitologist Mehrab Hossain speculated that the woman may have become a “accidental host”. After using the foraged herbs, which were infected with python feces and parasite eggs, for cooking.
Late in January 2021, the patient was admitted to the hospital. “An atypical lesion within the right frontal lobe of the brain” was found during a scan.
Despite making medical history, she is making a good recovery.
Ophidascaris larvae invasion of the brain was previously unreported, according to Dr. Hossain. Given that prior experimental studies have not shown larval development in domesticated animals. Such as sheep, dogs, and cats, the growth of the third-stage larva in the human host is noteworthy.
