VietNamNet Bridge – The Central Tropical Diseases Hospital in Hanoi has recently treated a 58-year-old patient from Lang Son province whose brain became a nest for intestinal flat worms.

The patient was hospitalized on May 12 in a drowsy mental state and having convulsions. He said he used to eat pig blood puddings and raw vegetables so doctors suspected brain worms. On CT images, doctors saw about 50 nests of intestinal flat worms in the patient’s brain.

Dr. Nguyen Trung Cap from the Emergency Department of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases says that intestinal flat worms are commonly found in the intestines of pigs and even the intestines of human. When feces is discharged to the environment, the worms can stick to vegetables and blood pudding  (during the process of this cuisines). Those who swallow the eggs of the worms can be infected with Cysticercosis.

In the body, the worm eggs develop into larvae, which can penetrate the gastrointestinal mucosa and follow the blood to all parts of the body. Wherever the worms shelter, they cause diseases there. If they get into the brain they can cause cerebral edema, convulsions and even death. If they get into the eyes they can cause blindness.

Each year the hospital cures 30-40 patients with flatworms in the brain. If the patients are treated early they can be completely cured, otherwise they will have calcified nodules in the brain.

Le Ha