The 30-year-old woman was diagnosed with a life-threatening parasitic infection after she went to the doctors complaining of a burning pain in her feet, and was also seen packing for a holiday she had not booked
A woman was left stunned after a visit to the doctor for foot pain revealed she had parasites in her brain. The 30 year old, who remains unnamed, was initially diagnosed in the USA but it’s thought she may have contracted the parasite during travels to Thailand, Japan, or Hawaii.
It’s been suggested that she picked up the deadly parasitic infection, known as angiostrongyliasis or ‘rat lungworm’, from consuming unwashed vegetables. The parasite starts its life cycle in a rodent’s lungs before spreading to snails and slugs.
It’s believed a mollusc may have crawled over a vegetable, leaving behind the parasite which the patient then ingested, according to infobae.
Once inside her system, the parasite is thought to have remained dormant for 12 days before symptoms began to manifest, including a burning sensation in her feet.
This pain eventually spread to her legs, arms, and torso. Alongside these physical symptoms, the patient also experienced psychological issues, such as packing for a holiday she hadn’t booked.
This unusual behaviour prompted her flatmate and partner to take her back to the hospital for a second scan, after an initial CT scan and blood test showed no obvious abnormalities, reports Bristol Live.
After the larvae in the patient’s brain were identified and angiostrongyliasis was diagnosed, she received a two-week course of treatment and made a recovery. Her case has been documented in the New England Journal of Medicine.
This is not an isolated incident of parasites infecting the brain. Recently appointed Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr revealed that he had experienced a health scare due to a worm entering his brain, consuming a portion of it, and then dying.
Despite concerns about the impact on his cognitive abilities, The New York Times reported that Mr Kennedy was in “robust health” over a decade later.
Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Washington University School of Medicine, Dr Philip Budge, warned the BBC that larvae can create cysts in the brain, a condition known as neurocysticercosis.
He explained: “The cysts don’t absorb any brain tissue, they simply create a space for the parasite to live. The cysts can occur in many places in the body. They usually don’t cause any trouble unless they are in the brain.”
Regarding the potential impact on cognitive abilities, Dr Arnab Chatterjee added: “It’s like real estate: it’s all about location location location. I’m unaware of any examples where a parasite affected cognition.”
