- Doctors found tapeworm eggs in a man’s brain after he complained of migraines
- It is believed he contracted the infection after eating undercooked bacon
- READ MORE: Doctors shocked after patient’s scan shows tapeworm infestation
A Florida man who went to the doctor complaining of persistent migraines was found to be suffering from a parasite in his brain.
The unnamed patient, 52, sought medical help after his chronic headaches became more frequent over the past four months and his medications stopped working.
Scans showed multiple cysts in both hemispheres of his brain, as well as swelling, which infectious disease experts confirmed was the result of a pork tapeworm that had laid eggs in his brain and irritated the tissue under his skull.
It is believed he contracted the disease from eating undercooked bacon after the patient told doctors about his ‘preference for bland bacon’.
Scans showed multiple cysts in both hemispheres of his brain, as well as swelling, which infectious disease experts confirmed was the result of pork tapeworm that had laid eggs in his brain and irritated the tissue under his skull.
The doctors speculated that their patient had contracted NCC after eating undercooked bacon
The Orlando patient told Orlando doctors that his regular medications were no longer stopping the migraines, which now occurred almost every week.
He said he had not traveled outside the country recently and had not eaten raw food, although he did prefer lightly cooked, non-crisp bacon.
CT and MRI scans showed multiple cysts on both sides of his brain. He was diagnosed with the parasitic infection neurocysticercosis.
The condition is used to describe when larval cysts – enclosed sacs containing the immature stage of a parasite – of the pork tapeworm infect various parts of the body and cause inflammation.
The patient’s doctors believe the parasite entered his body through undercooked food and then traveled through the bloodstream from the intestine to the brain.
“Our patient’s lifelong preference for bland bacon may have led to instances of undercooked bacon consumption,” the doctors wrote.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that between 1,320 and 5,050 cases of neurocysticercosis occur in the US each year.
A person can contract it by swallowing microscopic eggs that come from the feces of someone who has intestinal pig tapeworm. This is called an auto-infection.
Living with someone who has pork tapeworm and eating food prepared by someone who has one can also cause this.
These infections are most common in rural areas of developing countries, where pigs roam freely and eat human feces, and where poor hygiene practices exist.
It is rare in people from developing countries such as the US or UK.
Symptoms of NCC depend on where how many cysts are found in the brain, although they usually include confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, balance problems, and excess fluid in the brain known as hydrocephalus.
The experts who treated the patient also noted that seizures occur in about 80 percent of patients with NCC.
These symptoms can begin months or years after the infection, usually when the cysts begin to die.
The doctors said changes in patients with migraines should warrant further testing to rule out infections such as NCC.
“It is historically very unusual to encounter contaminated pork in the United States, and our case may have public health implications,” they wrote.
The patient was taken to the intensive care unit and given the corticosteroid dexamethasone four times a day to reduce swelling in his brain.
He was also given albendazole and praziquantel, which are used to treat worm infections, for two weeks.
The patient’s cysts resolved and his migraines improved.
The case was published in the American Journal of Case Reports.