Better well done than wormy!
A stomach-turning image of a parasite infection embedded in the muscle of a human body shows the dangers a person can face if they consume undercooked pork.
Emergency room physician Dr. Sam Ghali shared a horrifying CT scan of a patient’s leg muscles riddled with a parasitic infection on X Sunday.
The unsettling diagnosis stems from a parasite called “cysticercosis,” an infection caused by the larvae of the parasite Taenia solium, also known outside the medical community as “Pork Tapeworm.”
Cysticercosis occurs when the tapeworm larvae infect human tissues, Ghali shared.
“Humans become infected with T. solium by ingesting cysts that can be found in undercooked pork,” Ghali wrote.
The larvae then hatch and “penetrate the intestinal wall and invade into the bloodstream,” spreading freely throughout the human body and forming a hard calcified cyst in the muscle or brain that can feel like lumps under the skin.
They will appear as little white specks as the CT scan the doctor shared shows and are referred to as “rice grain calcifications.”
Though larvae invading a person’s body sounds unsettling, they are generally harmless as “the host’s inflammatory response typically ends up killing off the cysts,” Ghali shared.
Ghali warned that people could face severe consequences if the larvae travel up to the brain and form cysts in brain tissue.
“This specific condition is known as neurocysticercosis. It can lead to headaches, confusion, seizures, and other serious neurologic problems.”
The tapeworm Taenia solium enters the human body by consuming its eggs. These eggs can then develop into adult tapeworms in a human’s guts, “usually around 5-12” weeks.
However, it doesn’t directly result in cysticercosis.
Cysticercosis materializes when infected people pass on tapeworm eggs to others through their “feces.”
“It’s very important to note that it is only when these eggs are ingested via fecal-oral transmission that one can develop the clinical syndrome known as Cysticercosis,” Ghali wrote.
It’s contracted mainly by infected people who don’t properly wash their hands when using the bathroom, but the eggs can also be passed through water contaminated with feces.
While the “prognosis for cysticercosis is generally good” and can be treated by “anti-parasitic therapy, steroids, anti-epileptics (neurocysticercosis), and surgical removal,” Ghali shares that it can, in some cases, be fatal.
“It’s estimated that around 50 million people worldwide are infected each year, resulting in ~50,000 deaths,” the doctor wrote.
Ghali concluded his X medical lesson telling people to “do your best to keep clean, always wash your hands, and never, ever eat raw or undercooked pork.”
Around 2.8 million people, most frequently in the “low and lower-middle income countries” in Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe, are suspected of being infected with Taenia solium yearly, according to the World Health Organization.
The total number of people suffering from neurocysticercosis (NCC), “including symptomatic and asymptomatic cases,” yearly is estimated to be “between 2.56–8.30 million.”
Taenia solium is reportedly the cause of “30% of epilepsy cases in many endemic areas where people and roaming pigs live in close proximity.”
“In high-risk communities, it can be associated with as many as 70% of epilepsy cases,” according to WHO.
Rachel Carter is a health and wellness expert dedicated to helping readers lead healthier lives. With a background in nutrition, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being.
