Woman's Unwelcome Souvenir From Trip: a Brain Worm

A woman on a whirlwind three-week junket to Hawaii, Japan, and Thailand returned home with an unwanted memento: a parasite that embedded itself in her brain and made her legs feel like they were burning. That odd sensation started out in the New England 30-year-old's feet after she got back from her travels, per a case study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

• Concerning spread: Soon, that sensation had spread to the woman's legs, which had become very sensitive, and she began feeling run-down, though she thought that fatigue was just jet lag. The woman went to the ER, but tests found nothing amiss and she was sent home. She ended up back in the ER days later after the sensations she was having spread to her trunk and arms and she started experiencing headaches. Once again, tests found nothing wrong and she was sent home—but she was soon brought back by her partner after she started experiencing confusion.

• Diagnosis: On this visit it was finally discovered her white blood cell count was high, and after further tests, it was determined she likely had eosinophilic meningitis, an inflammation of the brain and spinal cord often caused by parasites. The culprit in her case: rat lungworm, or Angiostrongylus cantonensis, typically found in the Pacific/Southeast Asia region she'd visited.
• Symptoms: Live Science notes that if larvae from the parasite in infected individuals make their way to the brain, symptoms can emerge that include headaches, vomiting, stiff neck, confusion, and those tingling and burning sensations. If things worsen, patients can also experience vision issues and seizures. The woman in this case was given an anti-inflammatory steroid and started on a two-week regimen of antiparasitic meds, then released from the hospital after about a week.
• Protect yourself: As for what to do to keep such critters at bay, the CDC suggests not consuming raw or undercooked snails, slugs, frogs, shrimp, or prawns. If you have to handle snails and slugs in your yard or garden, the agency recommends wearing gloves and doing a lot of washing (of hands, fresh produce, etc.). It also notes that people shouldn't eat uncooked veggies in areas where A. cantonensis is known to lurk.

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