Cysticercosis is contracted by eating food or drinking water contaminated with T. solium eggs.
A doctor has shared a chilling image of a parasitic infection embedded in the muscles of a human body, showing the dangers of consuming undercooked pork. Sam Ghali, an emergency doctor in the United States, shared a horrifying CT scan of a patient’s leg muscles riddled with a parasitic infection on social media site X.
According to Dr. Ghali, the diagnosis is due to cysticercosis, a disease caused by the larvae of the pork tapeworm. Had onlywhich infects both humans and pigs. It occurs if tapeworm eggs are ingested, which hatch in the intestines and become larvae called cysticerciThe larvae then migrate through the body and form cysts in tissues such as the brain, eyes, muscles, skin, lungs, liver, and oral mucosa.
“Humans become infected with EITHER. only “It can be contracted by ingesting cysts found in undercooked pork,” Dr. Ghali wrote. The larvae hatch and “penetrate the intestinal wall and invade the bloodstream,” spreading freely throughout the human body and forming a hard calcified cyst in the muscle or brain that can be felt as lumps under the skin. They will appear as tiny white specks, as shown in the CT scan the doctor shared, and are known as “rice grain calcifications,” he added.
Dr. Ghali said that while the larvae that invade a person’s body look disturbing on examination, they are usually harmless as “the host’s inflammatory response usually ends up killing the cysts.”
However, he warned that serious consequences could be faced if the larvae travel to the brain and form cysts in brain tissue. “This specific condition is known as neurocysticercosis and can cause headaches, confusion, seizures and other serious neurological problems.”
How is cysticercosis contracted?
According to experts, cysticercosis is contracted by eating food or drinking water contaminated with T. solium eggs or by not washing hands after touching excrement (feces) that have T. solium eggs inside. These eggs can then develop into adult tapeworms in a human’s intestines, usually within 5 to 12 weeks.
Statistics indicate that about 2.7 million people worldwide suffer from cysticercosis. In regions where porcine cysticercosis is common (such as Central and South America, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe), 10 to 20 percent of the human population has symptoms of cysticercosis, which can cause seizures.
Signs and symptoms of cysticercosis
Doctors say the symptoms of cysticercosis depend on where the cysts form, however, the most common symptoms are those of cysts in the nervous system, known as neurocysticercosis. These include:
- Seizures
- Severe and recurring headaches
- Nausea, vomiting, and confusion.
- Stiff neck
Any cyst outside the brain and spinal cord is known as extraneural cysticercosis, which usually causes no symptoms except in certain locations such as the skin or eyes, such as:
- Lumps under the skin
- Severe pain in the eyes
- Double vision
- Eye inflammation
- Limited eye movement
- Bulging eyes
- Permanent loss of vision
How does cysticercosis affect the brain??
According to experts, T. Solium The hatched eggs become larvae and travel to the brain, forming cysts, which sometimes remain there for a long time without causing symptoms. But when they begin to die, the immune system recognizes them as invaders and triggers inflammation to attack them. Many of these cysts put pressure on the brain, leading to life-threatening brain swelling, seizures and headaches.
When the cysts die, they leave behind hard areas in the brain surrounded by fluid, which causes seizures.
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