‘Oh my God’: live worm found in Australian woman’s brain in world-first discovery | Health [The Guardian] - eviltoast

Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.

  • Ready! Player 31@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Ophidascaris robertsi is a roundworm usually found in pythons. The Canberra hospital patient marks the world-first case of the parasite being found in humans.

    The patient resides near a lake area inhabited by carpet pythons. Despite no direct snake contact, she often collected native grasses, including warrigal greens, from around the lake to use in cooking, Senanayake said.

    The doctors and scientists involved in her case hypothesise that a python may have shed the parasite via its faeces into the grass. They believe the patient was probably infected with the parasite directly from touching the native grass or after eating the greens.

    Moral of the story: make sure you wash all the snake shit off your produce and hands before eating.

  • Very_Bad_Janet@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    People in Australia always say that everyone overstated its dangers.

    But I think Australians just want us to visit and store more of their mindworms.

    • penguin@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Could have been the mind worms all along, “No it’s perfectly safe. Please bring your delicious brains to our land”

  • Hank@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    It’s too bad that the brain doesn’t have the capability to feel itself. Imagine the fun of having a little buddy wiggling through your thoughts.
    Maybe it’d even tickle :3

    • GONADS125@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      A past team member of mine had a client who kept telling providers that she “has worms in my brain.” Multiple providers discounted the medical relevance of this individual’s claims as delusions due to her schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and her low level of function.

      My team member fought the providers like hell to get her an fMRI. Well the fMRI showed her brain was riddled with at that point inoperable tumors, and she died not long afterwards.

      I’d heard other accounts of similar stories, but that was the first real-world example I had. If I had a client telling me there were ants in his belly, I’m not going to believe that’s accurate, but I made damn sure we addressed it with providers.

      People can describe physical symptoms in seemingly bizarre ways. Even if the exact scenario they are describing is clearly false, it doesn’t mean they aren’t experiencing very real physical symptoms.

    • x4740N@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Well there is brain eating amoeba as well, which is why I’m now afraid of swimming in random bodies of water