Doctors suspected man had brain cancer. He had worms

Discussion (9 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

sva_•about 1 hour ago

> The finding surprised the doctors since tapeworms aren’t endemic to Spain and he said he hadn’t traveled. However, the man may have been exposed during his work. Until 10-years prior, when he retired, he had worked in construction, often working alongside people who had migrated from regions where pork tapeworms (Taenia solium) are endemic. The parasitic worms can spread through the fecal-oral route. His doctors speculated his infection might have been a rare case of cryptic transmission from sharing meals and bathrooms with his coworkers, one of whom apparently had a tapeworm infection.

yikes

mhb•13 minutes ago

Why did they use CT before MRI?

thelastgallon•about 1 hour ago

Sounds like a Dr. House episode.

ramon156•about 1 hour ago

But actually, it was lupus

sourcegrift•41 minutes ago

And the throat incision clip

tamimio•about 1 hour ago

Ok, and what happened to the man after? Did they remove it? Was he ok and back to normal or forever damaged?

throawayonthe•about 1 hour ago

> NCC can be serious, causing seizures, significant neurological deficits, cognitive decline, stroke, and other problems. But it can also be asymptomatic. The severity depends on where in the brain the worms settle. Luckily for the man, the effects were relatively mild. Doctors prescribed him two anti-parasitic drugs, and he recovered.

and here is the actual case report: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/32/7/26-0587_article

> We treated the patient successfully with albendazole (400 mg 2×/d) and praziquantel (1,200 mg 3×/d), alongside dexamethasone taper, without complications.

tamimio•42 minutes ago

Thanks and glade he made it!

Doctors suspected man had brain cancer. He had worms

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Discussion (9 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews