Dr. Sam Ghali, an emergency physician, shared alarming X-ray images of a man infested with cysticercosis, caused by tapeworm eggs from undercooked pork. The X-ray revealed hundreds of calcified cysts throughout the man’s body, a result of ingesting these eggs, which can lead to severe health issues if they invade vital organs like the brain. Transmission often occurs through inadequate handwashing after using the toilet or through contaminated water. Ghali emphasizes the importance of hygiene and thoroughly cooking pork to prevent such infections, which affect millions annually and can be fatal.
Horrifying X-ray images show a man’s body riddled with tapeworm eggs after a fatal mistake in the kitchen led to a parasitic infestation.
Dr. Sam Galli, an emergency physician at the University of Florida, shared on social media an image of a patient who showed clear signs of a parasitic infection called cysticercosis.
The tapeworms that cause infection enter the human body by eating their eggs.
These eggs are found in undercooked pork, and Dr. Ghali said the X-ray shows that “always do your best to stay clean, wash your hands, and avoid raw pork or undercooked pork under any circumstances.” “There’s a big lesson in never eating enough pork.”
When ingested, tapeworms form hard calcified cysts or dead “zombie” eggs that can feel like lumps under the skin and appear on medical scans as white oval “rice grain” nodules. Lights up.
An image shared by Dr Ghali shows a man’s pelvis mottled with hundreds of calcified cysts.
Medical experts say, “They’re everywhere, there’s so many of them, we can’t even begin to count them all.”
“Now these cysts can travel anywhere in the body. In this patient’s case, there was a large amount of infection in the soft tissues of her lower back and legs.”
Dr. Sam Ghaly, an emergency physician at the University of Florida, shared an image on social media of a patient who showed clear signs of a parasitic infection called cysticercosis.
Transmission occurs primarily when an infected person does not wash their hands properly after using the toilet, but eggs can also be transmitted through water contaminated with feces.
Although unpleasant, the larvae may not be able to survive outside the intestine and are usually harmless, Dr. Ghali points out.
When ingested in this way, the eggs release larvae, which enter the bloodstream and can reach locations such as muscles and other organs.
Here they are killed by the body’s immune system and form hard cysts.
However, cysts can cause problems if they develop in the brain.
If the cyst invades the brain, headaches and even seizures are common, as well as confusion, dizziness, and a potentially fatal condition called hydrocephalus, which is an excess of fluid in the brain.
In these cases, surgery is usually required to remove the cyst.
Dr Ghali said the anonymous patient was not aware that he actually had a tapeworm cyst inside his body.
The radiograph was taken after an unrelated fall that caused hip pain.
The tapeworms that cause infection enter the human body by eating their eggs. These eggs are found in undercooked pork
If the cyst reaches the eye, it can cause blurred or impaired vision and can lead to infection.
The cyst itself can develop only months or years after the initial infection with tapeworm eggs.
The tapeworm that can cause cysticercosis is a species called Taenia solium, also known as pork tapeworm.
The World Health Organization estimates that Taenia solium larval cysts that develop in the brain are responsible for up to 70% of epilepsy cases in some parts of the world.
More unusual infections have been recorded in the past, and here we present one case from Brazil.
Approximately 2.5 million people are thought to be infected with Taenia solium each year, most frequently in poorer regions of Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe.
Dr. Ghali said, “The prognosis for cysticercosis is generally good, but unfortunately it can be fatal.”
“It is estimated that approximately 50 million people become infected and approximately 50,000 die each year worldwide.
“So the moral of the story here is to do your best to stay clean, always wash your hands, and never eat raw or undercooked pork.”
While the scan shared by Dr. Ghali is shocking, many similar cases have been recorded around the world.
This includes one severe infection shared by doctors in Brazil in 2023.
Like Dr. Ghaly, the Brazilian doctor also warned people: [catch] that? Wash food thoroughly before eating. ”
