In January 2021, a 64-year-old woman from New South Wales, Australia went to a local hospital for abdominal pain, diarrhea, dry cough, fever, and night sweats.
Her symptoms worsened, and by 2022 included forgetfulness and depression. After a scan of her brain revealed abnormal lesions, she underwent surgery. According to the Guardian, this is when the staff at Canberra hospital made a shocking discovery.
While operating on the woman, neurosurgeon Dr. Hari Priya Bandi pulled an 8cm-long parasitic roundworm, called colleague physician Dr Sanjaya Senanayake, and exclaimed: “Oh my god, you wouldn’t believe what I just found in this lady’s brain — and it’s alive and wriggling.”
The team at the hospital sent the still-very-much-alive worm to the laboratory of a Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) scientist. The parasitic worm…
