In a first-ever case worldwide, doctors in Canberra, Australia, extracted a wriggling worm usually found in carpet pythons from the brain of a woman who suffered more than a year from a host of symptoms.
The 3-inch-long, parasitic roundworm wreaked havoc in the 64-year-old patient’s body since January 2021, when she first presented with abdominal pain, the runs, a constant dry cough, fever and night sweats, according to a paper published in the September issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases by doctors and researchers at Australian National University and Canberra Hospital. A lung biopsy and other tests turned up nothing.
In 2022, forgetfulness and depression joined the woman’s symptom list. An MRI showed brain lesions, requiring surgery. That’s when a neurosurgeon found the Ophidascaris robertsi roundworm.
“Oh, my God, you wouldn’t believe what I just found in this lady’s brain — and it’s alive and wriggling,” was what neurosurgeon Dr. Hari Priya Bandi told infectious disease specialist Dr. Sanjaya Senanayake when she called seeking advice.
“Neurosurgeons regularly deal with infections in the brain, but this was a once-in-a-career finding,” Senanayake told The Guardian. “No one was expecting to find that.”
Doctors are continuing to monitor the woman — and marvel — as she recovers.
“This is the first-ever human case of Ophidascaris to be described in the world,” said Senanayake, who co-authored the study, noting that the larvae are normally carried by small mammals and marsupials that the python ingests.
The woman lived near a lake in New South Wales and probably picked up the worm when collecting native Warrigal greens tainted with python poop, the doctors surmised.
Senanayake said the woman’s condition, though not contagious, highlighted the need for vigilance, since three-quarters of the world’s emerging infections jump from animals to humans.
“It is never easy or desirable to be the first patient in the world for anything,” Senanayake said. “I can’t state enough our admiration for this woman who has shown patience and courage through this process.”
