42-year-old woman contracts 38 brain parasites after India trip

Neurocysticercosis: the 38 parasites a traveller brought back from India

It is hard to imagine that a one-metre worm is merely the appetiser. For Lowri Denman, 42, that discovery in the bathroom was the first warning of something far more serious: 38 parasites lodged in her brain. The woman, who lives in Wales, had recently travelled to India and had just found out she was not the only unwanted tenant in her body.

The neurocysticercosis she was diagnosed with is caused by the larvae of the pork tapeworm. In her case, the symptoms were severe headaches, seizures and episodes of psychosis. She is one of only a handful of people in the UK diagnosed with this infection each year. The patient herself described the tapeworm as "sticky tape with little ridges", according to the British press.

A rare infection, but preventable?

The infection is acquired by ingesting pork tapeworm eggs, present in food or water contaminated with human faeces. There is no need to eat undercooked pork: poor hand hygiene is enough. In countries where the tapeworm is endemic, the risk is higher, but the figures among travellers are very low. Even so, anyone showing neurological symptoms after travelling to risk areas should mention it to their doctor.

While some argue that the health risk should deter people from travelling to certain destinations, specialists insist that prevention is simple: wash your hands, avoid raw food and drink bottled water. The controversy is nothing new, but Denman's case gives it a concrete face.

The unsettling thing about the case is that no preventive measure eliminates the risk entirely. Is that enough to give up a alucinación? The answer depends on each person, but neurocysticercosis should be on every traveller's radar, even if the odds are one in a million.