Could an eight-centimetre worm be found in a brain in Portugal? “These conditions vary from one region to another.”

The case looks like it’s taken from an episode of a soap opera, but it’s a very real event. In Australia, at a hospital in Canberra, a neurosurgeon removed a parasite – similar to a worm – from a woman’s brain. The worm is about eight centimeters long, and this case, although rare, was documented in the September issue of the magazine Emerging infectious diseases. But could a similar situation occur in Portugal? Probably not.

What exactly happened to this woman?

The parasite that was removed from this woman’s brain was A Ovidascaris robertsii (roundworm commonly found in python snakes). The patient lived near a lake where python snakes were found. Although she did not directly deal with snakes, the woman would visit places near the lake and collect some herbs to cook. Experts who studied this case believe that the snake may have spread the parasite through feces on the grass.

Can an Australian patient transmit this disease to other people?

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-quarters of new or emerging infectious diseases in humans come from animals. However, this infection is not transmitted between people. However, although this is the first recorded case, other people living near these snakes may be infected with the same parasite.

And in Portugal?

In Portugal there is no Ovidascaris robertsy. He added: “These conditions differ from one region to another in the world. “What happens in the USA, Africa or Northern Europe, for example, does not apply in Portugal,” explains neurologist at Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João and professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, João Masano.

But the doctor leaves a warning. “We must not forget that we live in a world with great mobility and we receive many foreigners in our country or residents of Portugal who travel abroad for holidays or work. For example, there are no malaria infections in Portugal, but cases are diagnosed.”

But could we have other parasites?

Yes, but “parasitic infections affecting the brain are still rare in Portugal.” The most common in our country was “cysticercosis,” known as the tapeworm or “solitary insect,” but “the prevalence of this infection has greatly decreased in recent decades in our country due to improved conditions of hygiene, sanitation, and preparedness of food.”

What should we pay attention to?

“In Portugal, it does not make sense to be ‘attentive’ to special signs, because they are uncommon conditions and the symptoms are generally not very specific to these diseases,” adds the neurologist.

However, people with compromised immune systems are more likely to develop clinical complications. The most common problems, according to Joao Massano, are “epileptic seizures, headaches, and neurological deficits resulting from brain damage, such as decreased motor ability, lack of coordination of movements, or decreased cognitive abilities, including mental confusion.”