Dangerous: Researchers Discover New Brain Worms Which Cause Epilepsy

As we continue to advance in the fields of Science and Technology, the demands and problems that naturally accompany them are also increasing. Doctors have confirmed in a new study that worms known as Spirometra tapeworm and Pork tapeworms, can move throughout the body and finally settle in the brain, causing epilepsy to the patient.

It is said the brain worm was first discovered in a patient of Chinese descent in the United Kingdom. The man is said to have recently visited China, which along with South Korea, Japan and Thailand, has more regular occurrences of a similar parasite known as Spirometra erinaceieuropaei.

Doctors said the worm is now pushing on a new part of his brain, causing seizures and weakness in his legs. The condition associated with his infection was in fact Sparganosis.

And there is no known drug to effectively treat the infection, meaning that upon diagnosis doctors had to be quick to remove the worm surgically.

“It had moved from one side of the brain to the other … very few things move in the brain. When he reappeared, he had new symptoms,” Dr. Effrossyni Gkrania-Klotsas, told the cnn.com about the British man who was found to have a tapeworm moving inside his brain in 2013. This form of tapeworm had never been seen before in the United Kingdom. Dr. Gkrania-Klotsas also admitted the discovery has left doctors stranded and worried.

Explaining how the worms infect humans, Dr. Gkrania-Klotsas said the adult form of the Spirometra tapeworm only occurs in the intestines of cats and dogs, but as these animals shed the worms’ eggs in their feces, the eggs can enter and contaminate human drinking water. The resulting juvenile form of tapeworm known as larvae, can then stay in the water within certain small crustaceans, or end up in frogs and snakes. As larvae they can invade humans through ingestion or direct contact with infected animals. The patient of Chinese decent was thought to have accidentally drunk water while swimming in an infected lake when he visited China.

For the pork species of the worm, it is said it can infect humans in two ways. First, by eating undercooked pork from infected pigs, resulting in taeniasis of an adult worm residing in the intestine. Secondly, in the larval form through contact with the feces of an infected pig or human, which can go on to infect many tissues. If the larval worm enters the nervous system including the brain, it can result in a condition known as neurocysticercosis. Infection of this kind can often cause epilepsy once inside the brain.  According to the World Health Organization, almost a third of epilepsy cases in countries where the disease is native are of people who have previously had neurocysticercosis.

Statistics show that just 300 infections of the Spirometra tapeworm were recorded between 1953 and 2013 in the UK, but in Asia, it is believed many cases have been recorded, especially in the rural areas where personal hygiene is not observed properly.

Hayley Bennett, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, explained that “these worms are pretty mysterious; we know it has a very complicated life cycle. The larvae can encyst in the brain or somewhere else.”

Hayley sincerely added that because reported cases are low in the UK, it seems researchers are not interested in developing an immediate cure.

“Because it’s such a rare infection it’s not economically viable to create a drug just for this worm. But by comparing it to other tapeworms we can see which other drugs might apply,” she said.

Therefore, be careful with pork meat and when coming into contact with the animals we have mentioned. Treat your water well before drinking. Remember that prevention is better than a cure!

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