Teenager dies of tapeworm infection after eating pork – as scans show dozens of eggs lodged in his brain

A TEENAGER died after dozens of tapeworm cysts buried into his brain leaving him unconscious.

The unnamed 18-year-old was taken to hospital after suffering violent seizures, doctors said.

A teenager died after doctors discovered dozens of tapeworm cysts had buried into his brain, causing him to suffer violent seizures

After examining the patient, they said he appeared confused and noticed he had a swelling over his right eye, as well as a swollen right testicle.

The unnamed teen’s parents told medics he’d also been complaining of a pain in his groin over the last week.

Scans revealed shocking results

Doctors at the ESIC Medical College and Hospital in Faridabad, India, sent the teenager for scans.

And the results of an MRI left them stunned.

It showed his brain was dotted with parasitic cysts, caused by a severe tapeworm infection.

The cysts were buried in the outer layer of the man’s brain, as well as in his brain stem, according to a case report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

He also had cysts in his right eye and testicles, doctors noted.

Severe tapeworm infection from pork

Medics diagnosed him with a condition called neurocysticerosis – a tapeworm infection typically the result of eating infected pork.

It’s a preventable infection that attacks the central nervous system, according to the World Health Organisation.

MRI of the head showed numerous well-defined cystic lesions throughout the cerebral cortex and the brain stem and cerebellum that were consistent with neurocysticercosis

Medics treating the teenager

The condition begins when a person ends up eating infected meat.

They develop an intestinal tapeworm infection, known as taeniasis.

But when it’s left untreated, it can trigger the more serious neurocysticerosis.

This is when tapeworm eggs built up in the patient’s central nervous system, muscles, skin and eyes.

Neurocysticerosis is the most serious form of tapeworm infection, and is a common cause of epilepsy and seizures across the world.

Teenager couldn’t be saved

In this case, doctors said the number of tapeworm cysts invading the teenager’s body meant anti-parasitic medications typically used, weren’t an option.

In severe cases like this, the drugs can make inflammation in the brain worse, making the condition more deadly.

Instead, medics gave the man steroids and anti-epileptic drugs.

But, they couldn’t save the teenager, who died two weeks later.

9ft tapeworm removed from another patient

Last year, doctors in Singapore were stunned to find a 9ft tapeworm growing inside a man’s stomach, after years of eating sushi.

The worm was so long it had to be folded 18 times to fit into a photograph, taken by medics at Singapore’s General Hospital.

Despite the length of the tapeworm, the patient had shown no signs or symptoms to hint at the parasite lurking in his intestines.

Meanwhile, doctors in China r emoved more than 30 tapeworm eggs from a man’s brain after he suffered sudden blackouts.

The 46-year-old patient had been suffering symptoms for six months before he went to hospital.

Scans showed “sack-like” objects inside the man’s head and doctors operating were shocked to find they were eggs and live worms buried in his brain tissue.

The patient was also suffering neurocysticercosis, which doctors warn can go undiagnosed for long periods of time, prompting some to describe it as a “hidden epidemic”, particularly in poorer parts of the world.

Despite doctors trying to treat the infection, the teenager died two weeks later

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