Headache Won’t Go Away, Doctors Find Tapeworm Larvae in Australian Woman’s Brain

The patient was eventually diagnosed with neurocysticercosis, a parasitic disease that occurs when a person swallows microscopic eggs from Taenia solium. They are also known as pork tapeworms because they often attack humans who eat undercooked pork.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States states, these tapeworms are found in many Latin American, African and Asian countries. In Australia, all cases are reported in those who have traveled in endemic areas.

“This person has always lived in Australia and has never traveled overseas to a country that is endemic to T. tolium, “wrote the doctors in the abstraction of the report.

They note that people can indeed get neurocysticercosis from close contact with people who are infected with the parasite and do not maintain proper hand hygiene because tapeworm eggs can pass through feces. However, the patient did not report it.

Their biggest speculation is that, since this woman works as a barista, there is a chance that she might be exposed while at work. However, if that were the case, then this finding would be rare given the large number of people working in the Australian hotel industry who did not experience this infection.

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