Doctors horrified after patient’s scan reveals tapeworm infestation

Shocking images show how a patient who sought help for a persistent cough was riddled with the remains of dozens of tapeworm larvae.

An x-ray of the stomach posted by a Brazilian medic shows hundreds of clear watt spots, each representing the calcified remains of a parasite.

This condition, called cysticercosis, occurs when larvae of a type of tapeworm, which normally live in the intestines, invade tissues such as the muscles or brain.

There they form hard nodules like cysts that can feel like nodules under the skin.

While unpleasant, they are generally harmless — since the larvae don’t survive — the cysts left behind can cause problems if they develop in the brain or eyes.

Dr. Vitor Borin de Souza, a medic at the Hospital das Clínicas in Botucatu, shared the footage in a now-deleted thread on Twitter.

He said: ‘Cysticercosis is acquired by ingestion of tapeworm eggs (present in the stool of people with tapeworms).

‘Do not want [catch] It? Wash your food properly before consumption.’

Dr. de Souza added that in most cases, the patient does not need any treatment.

He said, “If you don’t have an injury in the head, spinal cord or eyes, you don’t even need to treat.

‘These lesions are calcified, so they are not viable cysticerci (tapeworm larvae). If it doesn’t cause discomfort, life goes on.’

However, he confirmed that the patient was waiting for an MRI scan to check for the location of any cysts in their brain.

Cysts in this location can be potentially fatal.

While headaches and even seizures are common, such nodules can also lead to confusion, dizziness and a condition called hydrocephalus, an excess of fluid in the brain, which if left untreated can be fatal.

In these cases, surgery is usually needed to remove the cysts.

Cysts can also reach the eyes, where they can cause blurry or disturbed vision and possibly cause infection.

The cysts themselves may not develop until months or years after the initial infection with the tapeworm eggs.

The species of tapeworm responsible is called Taenia solium (pictured) which can infect humans through contaminated feces and pork products

The tapeworm that can cause cysticercosis is a species called Taenia solium, also known as the pork tapeworm.

Eggs of this species are passed between humans through contaminated feces, usually through contaminated water supplies or inadequate hand hygiene during food preparation.

Humans can also get the tapeworm through contaminated pork products, although in this case the eggs that hatch in the gut do not spread to other parts of the body to cause cysticercosis.

The World Health Organization estimates that Taenia solium larval cysts that develop in the brain are responsible for up to 70 percent of epilepsy cases in some parts of the world.

About 2.5 million people per year are believed to be infected with Taenia solium, with it mostly found in poor regions of Asia, South America and Eastern Europe.

People who only have cysticercosis, unlike people with an active tapeworm infection in their gut, cannot spread the eggs to other people.