Doctors in Australia were shocked to find a cyst full of tapeworm larvae in the brain of a 25-year-old woman. The woman had been dealing with headaches since she was 18. They happened a few times a month and were accompanied by a "visual aura." She never thought much about the headaches because the symptoms would go away after she took medication.
Her symptoms recently worsened, and after a week-long headache, she sought medical attention.
Doctors performed an MRI scan and discovered a lesion on her brain and thought it was a tumor. When they went to operate, they found the lesion was actually tapeworm eggs and removed them.
Once the worms were removed, the woman's symptoms ceased, and she was able to resume her job as a barista without further medical treatment.
Physicians detailed her case in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and said it was the first locally acquired case of tapeworms in Australia. They are not sure how she came in contact with the tapeworms and suggested it is possible she ingested undercooked pork, which can carry the tapeworm.
"Although a clear source of infection was not established here, it is proposed that the patient had inadvertently ingested eggs of T. solium released from a tapeworm carrier who had cases with solitary brain lesions."
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