The Neurosurgeon at Canberra Hospital Hari Priya Bandi extracted an 8 centimeter long parasitic roundworm from the brain of an Australian patient. The case was documented in the September issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The patient, a 64-year-old woman from south-east New South Wales, was first admitted to the local hospital in late January 2021 after suffering from three weeks of abdominal pain, dysentery, a constant dry cough, fever and night sweats. In 2022, her symptoms worsened, leading to depression and memory loss, requiring her to be admitted to Canberra Hospital. An MRI scan of the brain revealed abnormalities that required surgery.
“But the neurosurgeon certainly didn’t come in expecting to find a wriggling worm,” she said Sanjaya Senanayake, Infectious Diseases Physician at Canberra Hospital. “Neurosurgeons regularly deal with brain infections, but this was a unique discovery. We searched textbooks for all the different types of roundworms that can cause neurological invasions and disease.” However, the search was unsuccessful and they turned to outside experts for help. The worm was then sent to a laboratory. The results showed that the species was Ophidascaris robertsi, a round worm normally found in pythons.
The patient at Canberra Hospital represents the first case in the world in which the parasite has been detected in humans. The woman lives near a lake area where carpet pythons live. “Despite direct contact with snakes, the patient would often gather native herbs, including Warrigal greens, around the lake to cook,” Senanayake said. Doctors and scientists involved in his case speculate that a python may have spread the parasite through its droppings in the grass. The patient is now recovering and is being monitored.