It turned out that the patient, who applied to the hospital due to a severe and persistent cough in Brazil, had dozens of tapeworms in his stomach that would cause him to die as soon as it reached the brain and eye. When tapeworms, which are harmless under normal conditions, enter the brain or eye tissues, problems that result in death can occur.
It was understood that the patient had a tissue infection called cysticercosis caused by the young form of the pig tapeworm.
Hundreds of white spots were detected on the patient’s x-ray. These white spots turned out to be calcified remnants of parasites.
Treating the patient, Dr. Vitor Borin de Souza, in a statement on Twitter, said that food should be washed thoroughly in order not to catch tapeworms.
70 percent of epilepsy cases are due to tapeworms
It is known that tapeworms, which normally live in the intestines, enter tissues such as muscles and brain in cystiercosis. Tapeworms cause swellings like cysts in these tissues they enter.
On the other hand, the World Health Organization estimates that pig tapeworm larval cysts that develop in the brain are responsible for 70 percent of epilepsy cases in some parts of the world. About 2.5 million people are thought to be infected with pork tapeworm each year.