pork tapeworm or Taenia solium is a type of worm that can end up in your brain. It infects via fecal-oral contract so infection is higher in developing countries with poor hygiene (parasites spread when tapeworm egg infested foods or water are consumed). If the parasite larvae cysts enter the nervous system, then it’s called a neurocysticercosis. Here, the cysts go through several stages from being active to transforming into a calcified glob (at most stages, an MRI of an infected brain look like they have giant bubbles [1]). Symptoms include headaches, blindness, meningitis, epilepsy, and dementia. But since large cysts form, various neurological disorder may arise (like psychosis [3]). Pigs, the natural carriers of the tapeworms, can now be given vaccines and anti-parasitic medication to prevent the parasites from spreading [2].
But the brain is not the only place the larvae might end up! It can also get into muscles, skin, and eyes. While this is a larger issue in Latin America, India, Africa, and China, immigration has increased the prevalence of infection in the US [1].
[1] PMID: 16059465
[2] www.who.int/features/factfiles/neurocysticercosis/en/
[3] PMID: 9219748
Originally posted on Instagram May 2, 2019
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