From snakes to humans: Live parasitic roundworm discovered in Australian woman's brain

In Australia, a medical case has left doctors and neurosurgeons flabbergasted as a 64-year-old woman was found to have a live parasitic roundworm living in her brain. What's more surprising is that the worm, called Ophidascaris robertsi, is usually found in snakes, pythons to be exact, and this is actually the first documented case of it being present in a human.

'Alive and wriggling'

In the Canberra hospital, neurosurgeon, Dr Hari Priya Bandi, pulled an 8 cm-long parasitic roundworm out of her patient's brain, prompting her to call her colleagues and exclaim, "Oh my God, you wouldn’t believe what I just found in this lady’s brain – and it’s alive and wriggling."

Add WION as a Preferred Source

As per The Guardian, since late 2021, the woman had been suffering from various symptoms, including abdominal pain, diarrhoea, cough, fever, night sweats. More recently, by 2022, she started reporting symptoms like forgetfulness and depression.

Upon conducting an MRI scan, doctors revealed abnormalities in her brain that required surgery.It was during this surgery that neurosurgeons discovered the 8-cm-long roundworm inside her brain.The roundworm, usually found in pythons, had never been reported in humans before.

How did the roundworm enter her brain?

The woman, as per The Guardian, lives near an area inhabited by carpet pythons, which are hosts of this worm.

It is believed that she may have come into contact with the parasite through native grasses she collected from around a nearby lake for cooking. It's hypothesised that a python may have shed the parasite via its faeces, which may have contaminated the grass.

Since this was the first such case, the medical team involved in the case had to move carefully, as they suspected that the woman may have larvae. To kill the larvae, they administered medication that could have harmful side effects.

As per the doctors, the patient's recovery has been successful. The case has been documented in the September edition of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The case has highlighted the potential dangers of diseases and infections transferring from animals to humans. As per Dr Sanjaya Senanayake, there "have been about 30 new infections in the world in the last 30 years."

"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 added.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.