A case in which parasite larvae were found in the brain of a 52-year-old man who regularly ate undercooked bacon has been published in the American Journal of Case Reports.
According to the medical community Thursday, the case, recently reported by Britain's Daily Mail, shows that foods commonly considered safe can become a route of infection depending on how they are cooked.
According to the report, the man, identified as A, experienced increasingly frequent and severe headaches starting four months earlier. The headaches occurred almost every week, and his existing medications failed to relieve the symptoms.
A eventually visited a hospital, where a CT scan performed by medical staff revealed multiple fluid-filled cysts throughout the white matter of his brain. While blood tests showed no abnormalities, an MRI scan found swelling that could raise intracranial pressure.
Suspecting neurocysticercosis, a condition in which pork tapeworm larvae infect the brain, the medical staff referred him to the infectious diseases department, where additional testing confirmed the diagnosis.
A said he had no notable history of overseas travel other than a Bahamas cruise two years earlier, and that he did not eat raw food. However, in an interview with medical staff, he stated that he had "enjoyed eating bacon that was not cooked crispy throughout his life." The researchers identified this dietary habit as the starting point of the infection.
The infection route was analyzed in two stages. The researchers concluded that consuming undercooked bacon first caused taeniasis, an intestinal tapeworm infection, after which a habit of not washing his hands properly led to self-infection through feces, spreading the parasite to the brain.
"It appears the tapeworm that had settled in the intestine reinfected him through the hands to the mouth, penetrating as far as the brain," the researchers explained.
Treatment was carried out by taking two oral medications two or three times a day for two weeks. The headaches subsequently decreased markedly, and follow-up observation showed a reduction in the brain cysts as well. While neurocysticercosis patients usually experience seizures, this patient did not.
The researchers advised, "If the pattern or frequency of headaches changes, the possibility of a new disease should be suspected," adding, "When treating patients whose headache patterns have changed, risk factors such as travel to endemic regions or occupational exposure should be carefully checked."
