For the first time ever, a tapeworm known as the animal-polluting tapeworm, with an emphasis on reptiles and python snakes, was found in the brain of a 64-year-old woman in Australia.
The woman arrived at the hospital after suffering from prolonged severe headaches. When an MRI scan of her brain was performed, an unusual infected area was detected. Initially, the doctors suspected it might be a type of growth, but after further examination, they discovered that it was a tapeworm.
The woman was taken for emergency surgery, during which the doctors successfully reached the infected area in her brain and removed a tapeworm measuring eight centimeters in length. The woman underwent the surgery successfully, and her condition is stable.
The worm is a tapeworm that is particularly known for its tendency to infect snakes, with a focus on large python snakes. This is the first documented case in the world of such a type of tapeworm settling in a human brain.
