NAPA, CALIFORNIA -- A 26-year-old man from California is recovering after surgeons extracted a live parasite from his brain during an emergency surgery.
As reported by CBS San Francisco, Luis Ortiz was just about to start his senior year at Sacramento State when he was visiting his mother in Napa in August, and had the worst headache of his life yet.
Luis' mom dialed 911, and paramedics came immediately and rushed him to Queen of the Valley Medical Center. A brain scan exposed that he had a tapeworm in his brain, calling for an urgent operation. The doctor subsequently told Luis that at that time, he had only about 30 minutes to live.
Doctors used an instrument with a camera to conduct an emergency brain surgery and found the larvae of a parasitic tapeworm that had developed in a cyst halting the circulation inside Luis' brain.
Luis said that the doctor removed it out and said that it was still shaking back and forth.
The Doctors told Luis there were a several ways the parasite could have gotten through his body.
As per CBS News, Luis said that he was asked if he recently ate uncooked pork or if went swimming in the river or visited a third world country, but he was certain that he hasn't done any of that recently. Luis added that he doesn't know how long that worm was in his head.
According to the reports by CBS Sacramento, there are six kinds of tapeworms that have been identified to infect humans, commonly determined by the animal they originated from. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that people can get an intestinal parasite from eating uncooked meat. A brain infection can emerge from eating food that was prepared by someone who is infected and transmits the larvae through unsatisfactory hygiene and sanitation. Once ingested, the larvae can go to the brain.
