The 52-year-old American man was diagnosed with neurocysticercosis. His only habit connected to the parasitic infection was eating "lightly cooked, non-crispy bacon," new study says.

A man was hospitalized with worsening migraines only to find out they were caused by parasitic tapeworm larvae in his brain — and researchers believe he was infected by eating undercooked bacon.

The unidentified 52-year-old American man consulted doctors about changes in his usual migraines over four months, according to a study in the American Journal of Case Reports published Thursday. The migraines became more frequent, severe and unresponsive to medication.

The patient was admitted to the hospital for testing. CT scans revealed numerous cystic foci, which are fluid-filled sacs in the brain. Cysticercosis cyst antibody tests returned positive, and the man was diagnosed with neurocysticercosis, the study said.

  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    8·
    10 months ago

    On one hand, cooking it thoroughly is probably a decent fix.

    But…I wonder if irradiation would be sufficient to wipe out tapeworms?

    https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/publications/magazines/bulletin/bull8-3/08305702731.pdf

    On the other hand, irradiated bacon has been approved for human consumption by the health authorities and is being processed commercially in the United States. In fact, participants at Karlsruhe were served such bacon which had been kept for 21 months at room temperature (20°C to 38°C) and showed no signs of deterioration.

    That does sound promising.