The weekly weird
Tapeworm removed from brain
A man has had a 12cm-long flesh-eating tapeworm removed from his head which had been slowly eating his brain for the past 15 years.
He had seen multiple specialists and was once treated for a malignant brain tumour. Finally, doctors discovered that a tapeworm was living in his brain that was considered to be in a risky area to operate on.
He recently underwent an operation at the Guangdong Sanjiu Brain Hospital to remove it. Following the two-hour procedure, medics removed a Sparganum mansoni parasite commonly found in the intestines of cats and dogs, but rarely in people, according to reports.
Doctor Gu told local media: “The surgery was risky. “The live tapeworm was moving in his brain and we had to remove all of it otherwise the leftover part could grow again.”
According to the doctor, they had treated four similar patients, and warned people to cook food thoroughly and also, do not drink water in the wild unless it has been boiled.
Mr Wang, from the city of Guangzhou in the Southern China, is now recovering from surgery.