A British man of Chinese descent went to seek medical advice after experiencing terrible headaches, seizures, strange smells and memory loss four years ago. Many tests were done on the 50-year old man including Tuberculosis, Syphilis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), but all results were negative.
The doctors from the Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge diagnosed the condition of the man after results of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) were released. It revealed that the man has a rare tapeworm living in the right side of his brain. The doctors immediately started an anti-parasitic drug called Abendazole but the tapeworm was resistant to the drug.
They conducted brain imaging studies on the man and discovered that the tapeworm travelled about five centimeters from the right side of the brain to the left. An operation was opted in 2012 to remove the tapeworm from the man's brain.
The British researchers who conducted the operation state that the one centimeter-long worm has never been seen before in the history of United Kingdom. Worldwide, it has been reported for only 300 times since 1953.
The tapeworm is known as Spirometra erinaceieuropaei which causes inflammation of body tissues that is why the man has experienced seizures, memory loss and headaches for the past four years.
Its source was traced back to accidentally eating small infected crustaceans from fresh water bodies, eating raw amphibians or reptile, or by using raw poultice from frogs which is used by Chinese people as a home remedy for sore eyes. Since he often visited China, he must have acquired the tape worm there. The tape worm would burrow themselves into the brain.
The patient is now well and had no complaints of any symptoms since the operation. According to Effrosssyni Gkrania-Klotsas from the Department of Infectious Disease at Addenbrooke's NHS trust, the case of the patient was never expected in the United Kingdom. However, travelling from one country to the other paved way to its emergence.
Samples were taken from the tape worm and with small amounts of DNA they were able to identify the characteristics of the parasite. Also, they are studying it to determine effective treatments in the future.
