A 25-year-old Australian Australian woman was found to have tapeworm larvae in her brain – after experiencing a headache for more than a week, the researchers said.
In a new study in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, an unidentified woman, Barista, who has never traveled abroad, is the first case of the disease in Australia.
For seven years, the woman experienced migraines two or three times a month, CNN reports.
But a recent headache that lasted more than a week and also caused vision problems forced her to seek treatment again.
Doctors ordered an MRI which led them to suspect that the tumor might bring her a headache, but an operation revealed that she had a tapeworm larvae abscess in her brain.
She was diagnosed with a parasite known as neurocyticrosis, which can be fatal and cause neurological symptoms, the outlet said.
CNN reports that people typically transmit the disease by eating undercooked pork, which can carry tapeworms, or exposure to contaminated food, water and soil from tapeworm eggs.
The researchers noted that the only previous cases in Australia came from people who had traveled to areas in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
The researchers said the woman or her relatives did not go to any of the regions where tapeworms are common.
But he noted that his work as a barista involved conversations with people from many countries.
“Clinicians need to be aware that with the ease and frequency of world travel, diseases [neurocysticercosis] It is very endemic in many parts of the world, posing a risk to residents of countries with fewer locals.
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