The parasite was discovered in the 64-year-old patient’s brain while a neurosurgeon at Canberra Hospital was performing a biopsy.
A neurosurgeon investigating a patient’s mystery neurological symptoms in an Australian hospital was surprised to pluck a 3in worm from her brain
“I just thought ‘What is that? It doesn’t make any sense. But it’s alive and moving’,” she was quoted as saying in The Canberra Times newspaper on Tuesday.The creature was the larva of an Australian native roundworm not previously known to be a human parasite, named Ophidascaris robertsi. The worms are commonly found in carpet pythons.
The woman had been admitted to the hospital after experiencing forgetfulness and worsening depression over three months. Scans showed changes in her brain.
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