Spectacular find during surgery in Australia: At a hospital in Canberra, doctors removed a live roundworm eight centimeters long from the brain of a 64-year-old woman.
The parasite is the species Ophidascaris robertsi, normally found only in pythons, according to a new study in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The neurosurgeon who performed the operation was completely perplexed and consulted colleagues, the Australian Guardian reported Tuesday. “This is the first human case of Ophidascaris to be described anywhere in the world,” Australian media quoted Professor Sanjaya Senanayake, a senior infectious disease expert at Canberra Hospital and a co-author of the study. “To our knowledge, this is also the first case where the brain of a mammalian species, human or not, has been affected.” The doctors describe the worm as “alive and writhing”.
The patient had numerous complaints
In early 2021, the patient from the state of New South Wales initially complained of weeks of abdominal pain and diarrhoea, followed by a dry cough and night sweats. A year later, her symptoms also included forgetfulness and depression. The woman was then referred to Canberra Hospital. An MRI scan of her brain eventually revealed abnormalities that required surgery.
“But the neurosurgeon certainly never imagined he’d find a writhing worm,” Senanayake told The Guardian. “Neurosurgeons regularly deal with infections in the brain, but this was a one-time find; no one expected it.”
Presumably entered the body via wild plants
But how did the parasite get into the Australian’s brain? The woman lives in a lake area where carpet pythons also live, it says. Although she has not had direct contact with snakes, she often gathers native wild plants and grasses around the lakes to use in cooking. The researchers assume that a python may have shed parasite eggs in its feces on the grass. The patient likely became infected after touching the grass and transferring the worm eggs to food or utensils.
However, the scientists stressed that an Ophidascaris infection is not transmitted between humans. “Therefore, this patient’s case will not cause a pandemic like Covid-19 or Ebola.”
Source: Krone
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