A Florida man who went to doctors complaining of persistent migraines was found to be suffering from a parasite in his brain.
How Headache Started For Him
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 was irritating the tissue under his skull.
How He Got The Illness
It’s believed that he contracted the illness from eating undercooked bacon after the patient told doctors about his ‘preference for soft bacon’.
The patient, from Orlando, told doctors in Orlando that his normal medications no longer stopped the migraines, which now occurred almost every week.
He said that he had not travelled outside of the country recently or eaten any raw foods, though he did prefer light cooked, non-crispy bacon.
CT and MRI scans showed multiple cysts in 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 via undercooked food, then traveled from the intestine to the brain through the bloodstream.
His Cyst Went Away
The patient was taken to the intensive care unit and given the corticosteroid dexamethasone four times a day to reduce the swelling in his brain.
He was also given albendazole and praziquantel for two weeks, which are used to treat worm infections.The patient’s cysts went away, and his migraines improved.
