In September, scrubbed-up surgeons in an operating room at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City opened Palma’s cranium and steeled themselves for a malignant brain tumour, said Jonathan Rasouli, chief neurosurgery resident at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The most common form, she said, is the adult tapeworm, which is ingested from undercooked pork and lives in the gut. Pritt says people who have the adult form shed microscopic eggs in their stool can pass the tapeworm to others if they do not properly wash their hands. Pritt said the adult form is treated with an anti-parasitic medication, but treatment for the larval form can be complex and depends on the location and stage of infection. “I want people to understand that this was such a rare occurrence,” Palma said about the tapeworm that was in her brain.

Source: National Post June 07, 2019 18:22 UTC