For the first time ever, doctors have retrieved a live worm inside a woman’s brain.
The Guardian reported that neurosurgeon Dr Hari Priya Bandi pulled an 8cm-long parasitic roundworm from her patient undergoing surgery.
Yep, still alive and wriggling, folks.
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After Dr Bandi made the harrowing discovery, she then turned to infectious diseases physician Dr Sanjaya Senanayake and other colleagues as to what to do.
Dr Senanayake said he and staff would’ve never guessed what Dr Bandi had stumbled upon.
“Neurosurgeons regularly deal with infections in the brain, but this was a once-in-a-career finding. No one was expecting to find that,” he said, as per the outlet.
He then began investigating what type of roundworm could cause neurological invasion and disease.
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Dr Senanayake then enlisted the help of a parasite expert, who determined the creature was an Ophidascaris robertsi, a roundworm typically found in pythons.
Never has it been found in humans before.
The 64-year-old patient was first admitted to hospital in January 2021 after suffering weeks of abdominal pain and diarrhoea followed by a constant dry cough, fever and night sweats.
She then began to experience depression, prompting an MRI scan that discovered abnormalities in the brain that needed surgery.
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“That poor patient, she was so courageous and wonderful,” Senanayake said.
“You don’t want to be the first patient in the world with a roundworm found in pythons and we really take our hats off to her. She’s been wonderful.”
According to The Guardian, the unnamed patient lives nearby a lake where pythons reside.
However, the patient maintained she had no contact with snakes, but perhaps the worm could have entered while collecting native grass in the region.
Doctors believe the patient transferred the eggs to food or kitchen utensils after touching the grass.
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While zoonotic diseases are spreading rampant in communities, Dr Senanayake said that this doesn’t mean we have another Covid-19 on our hands.
Thank god.
But, he suspects this won’t be the only roundworm found in a human.
“This Ophidascaris infection does not transmit between people, so this patient’s case won’t cause a pandemic like Covid-19 or Ebola. However, the snake and parasite are found in other parts of the world, so it is likely that other cases will be recognised in coming years in other countries,” he said.
Charisa Bossinakis