A Little Cooked Bacon Eaten and Larvae of Parasites Accumulated in the Brain!
By TOI Desk Report
March 15, 2024
Update on : March 15, 2024
A 52-year-old person in the United States, suffering from migraines, sought medical help. After scanning the brain, doctors found a parasitic larval cyst, causing cysticercosis (a disease caused by parasitic larvae infection).
Another person in the United States, suffering frequently from migraines, had a brain scan during a medical examination, revealing parasitic larvae in their brain. According to doctors, there’s a connection between eating a small amount of bacon (dry, salty meat from a pig’s belly or back) and this problem.
The 52-year-old’s condition worsened due to migraines, and because regular migraine medication wasn’t working, they sought medical help.
After scanning the brain, doctors found a parasitic larval cyst, causing cysticercosis (a disease caused by parasitic larvae infection).
Doctors have attributed the spread to not washing hands properly. They believe that by eating a small amount of cooked bacon, the person infected themselves.
Cysticercosis is an infection caused by parasitic larvae, known as pig tapeworm. It can lead to the formation of cysts in the brain (neurocysticercosis) if larvae enter the tissues of the brain.
When parasites are present in the body, they can spread through autoinfection, laying eggs that spread through bodily fluids and can infect others in the same household.
Even though direct transmission of cysticercosis to a human from undercooked pork or bacon hasn’t happened, according to the American Journal of Case Reports, doctors have written, ‘It is suspected that through autoinfection due to improper handwashing, the person became infected with cysticercosis.’
Doctors had assumed that the person’s habit of eating a small amount of cooked bacon or bacon was the cause of the infection.
The medication given by doctors to eliminate parasites worked properly, and now they have fully recovered.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, larvae of parasites enter the muscles and tissues of the brain, forming cysts. When cysts are found in the brain, it is called neurocysticercosis.
The CDC has stated that a person can get cysticercosis if they ingest Taenia solium eggs. These eggs enter the human body through food, water, or feces. Many people get infected due to improper hand hygiene.
The CDC has also indicated that an infected person can spread the infection to other members of the family.
Experts say that in the United States or the United Kingdom, the risk of getting infected with parasites from undercooked pork is generally low because pork is processed rigorously there. However, higher rates of infection are seen in parts of Latin America, Asia, and Africa and rural areas due to the free-roaming of pigs, unhealthy food, and unsanitary environments.
Due to improper handwashing or consuming contaminated food and water, people are at risk of such infections.
Read more: A Little Cooked Bacon Eaten and Larvae of Parasites Accumulated in the Brain!