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When the headache first set in, 26-year-old Luis Ortiz thought it was just a passing phase. But the pain refused to abate.
Over the course of the day, it worsened until Ortiz was feeling nauseous and confused and began to vomit from the sensation.
That was when his parents took him to the emergency room.
It was there that Ortiz learned he had a tapeworm larva growing in his brain that was cutting off his blood flow.
Ortiz had contracted an incredibly rare parasitic infection called neurocysticercosis, where the parasite infects the brain, rather than the intestine. Brain infections must be removed by surgery, but an intestine infection can generally be treated with oral antibiotics.
The doctors told Ortiz they would have to operate – immediately. “The doctor told me if I would have come a half-hour later than when I did, I wouldn’t be alive,” Ortiz recalled.
Thankfully, the surgery was successful, though Ortiz is currently suffering from minor memory problems and taking a break from school to allow himself time to recover.
During the procedure, the doctor removed the larva and the surrounding cyst, allowing the blood flow in Ortiz’s brain to return to normal. The tapeworm larva was still alive upon removal. “He showed me the worm in the jar,” Ortiz said.
The doctor explained that eating undercooked meat, swimming in a river, or visiting a third world country could be the culprit of these infections. But Ortiz still doesn’t quite understand how all of this happened – particularly since he did none of these activities.
“What are the odds of having a parasite in my head?”
