A Medical Marvel: Live Parasite Extracted from a Woman’s Brain
A Medical Marvel: Live Parasite Extracted from a Woman’s Brain
In a groundbreaking medical case, doctors were stunned to extract a live parasite from a woman’s brain, a phenomenon commonly associated with pythons but never before seen in humans.
The incident occurred at a hospital in Canberra, the capital of Australia, where a duty doctor informed the neurosurgeon about the presence of a live worm in a woman’s brain, leaving everyone astonished.
The 64-year-old woman, a resident of southeastern New South Wales, was initially admitted to a local hospital in late January 2021 with abdominal pain and diarrhea, followed by persistent dry cough, fever, and night sweats.
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Despite treatment, her condition worsened, and by 2022, she started experiencing memory loss and depression, prompting her transfer to a hospital in Canberra.
During an MRI scan of her brain, an unusual lesion appeared in the frontal lobe, which turned out to be a roundworm, scientifically known as Ophidascaris robertsi. The neurosurgeon successfully removed an 8-centimeter long parasitic roundworm from her brain.
Experts believe that the woman, who lived near a lake, might have accidentally ingested grass contaminated with python feces, leading to the entry of the roundworm into her body.
According to specialists, this type of parasite is commonly found in kangaroos and pythons but not in humans, making this case the first of its kind in the world where this parasite was found in a woman.