Dozens of worms attack the brain
For many years, Ms. Nguyen Thi Duoc (68 years old, living in Dong Son district, Thanh Hoa) has enjoyed eating blood pudding, especially blood pudding from pigs , goats, ducks, etc. This is her favorite dish as well as her family's during gatherings and holidays.
However, Ms. Duoc did not expect that the hobby that she once thought was harmless would cause her health to decline seriously in the past three years. In particular, in the last two months, Ms. Duoc has had to endure the torment of seizures and constant headaches, making daily activities and movement difficult.
Her health was getting worse, so her son took her to Dang Van Ngu Hospital in Hanoi for examination.
During the examination, she had a severe headache and had to take painkillers. In addition, she was also experiencing dizziness and fatigue. Doctors diagnosed her with brain fluke infection, a serious disease associated with eating undercooked blood pudding.
Witnessing his mother suffer, Mr. Minh - Mrs. Duoc's son - shared: "Recently, my mother's health has been weak, constantly tormented by headaches due to too many worms in her brain . I took her to a hospital in Thanh Hoa province for examination and treatment.
Most recently, when she was examined at Bach Mai Hospital, my mother was treated and given special medicine to treat worms for 20 days. However, after that, her condition did not improve but got worse, so she was referred to be transferred here for treatment," Mr. Minh added.
Realizing that Mrs. Duoc's condition was becoming complicated and dangerous, Dr. Tran Huy Tho - Permanent Deputy Director of Dang Van Ngu Hospital - directly conducted an examination.
Dr. Tho said: “This is a typical case of a person with brain flukes. This disease is very dangerous and requires long-term treatment in many stages to completely cure and eliminate the worm nests and eggs in the body .
Doctor's advice on brain worm disease
According to the results of blood tests and brain MRI, the doctor diagnosed that Ms. Duoc was infected with many worms in the brain, causing serious damage, bone marrow disorder, and low platelet count.
Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize treatment to stabilize platelets combined with doing the necessary tests to understand Ms. Duoc's current medical condition, then give an appropriate treatment regimen.
Doctor Tho recommends that brain tapeworm is a dangerous disease but can be easily prevented by the following measures: Eat cooked food and drink boiled water; do not eat blood pudding, pig intestines, salad, raw pork, or uncooked vegetables grown in water; Wash hands before eating and after using the toilet; Keep the environment clean and build hygienic toilets; Do not raise free-range pigs; Use medicine to remove pork tapeworms if infected; If you have symptoms of headache, dizziness, or lightheadedness, you should go to a medical facility immediately.
To ensure health, everyone should have regular health check-ups and quickly go to a medical facility when there are unusual signs for timely detection and treatment.
