Organ Damage and Memory Loss Caused by Unknowingly Eating Wild Vegetables

64-Year-Old Woman in New South Wales, Australia
Carpet Python Parasite Discovered in Her Brain
First-Ever Human Infection Case Involving Larval Stage

A case has been reported of a woman in her 60s who suffered prolonged lung infection, organ damage, and even memory loss after consuming wild vegetables she had picked near her home. The cause was found to be a rare parasite that had not previously been reported to infect humans.

According to the science media outlet Live Science, a 64-year-old woman living in New South Wales, Australia, visited a hospital after experiencing abdominal pain and diarrhea for three weeks. She also exhibited persistent dry cough and night sweats.

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A chest CT (computed tomography) scan revealed areas of thickened and opaque lung tissue. It was suggested that inflammation or infection had caused fluid, pus, or white blood cells to accumulate in spaces that should have been filled with air. Damaged tissue was also observed in her liver and spleen.

When the medical team collected and analyzed fluid from her lungs, they found an abnormally high proportion of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell. Based on this, doctors diagnosed her with the rare condition eosinophilic pneumonia and prescribed the steroid prednisolone daily. While her symptoms eased somewhat, the underlying cause remained unidentified. Despite consistently taking prednisolone, she returned to the hospital three weeks later with coughing and fever, and tests showed that the organ lesions persisted. Further examinations did not reveal a clear cause for her respiratory symptoms. Tissue cultures found no signs of bacterial or fungal infection. Blood tests did not show evidence of antibody formation against parasites, and stool tests were also negative.

Nevertheless, the medical team considered the possibility of a parasitic infection because the countries she had visited prior to her symptoms were regions where such infections are common. Even without clear evidence, the doctors decided to prescribe the antiparasitic medication ivermectin as well. However, her respiratory symptoms did not improve, and her condition worsened whenever the prednisolone dose was reduced. As a result, her condition did not improve even after a year since her initial hospital visit, and she developed depression and even memory loss.

The medical team determined that a brain examination was necessary. An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan of her brain revealed a lesion in the right frontal lobe. When a brain tissue biopsy was performed, a “thread-like structure” was discovered within the lesion. It turned out to be a living parasite, bright red in color, approximately 80mm in length, and about 1mm thick. After removing the parasite from the frontal lobe, the doctors examined the surrounding tissue but found no additional parasites.

For two days after the biopsy, the medical team administered the antiparasitic ivermectin, and to eradicate any parasites that might remain in her organs, they also prescribed the broad-spectrum antiparasitic albendazole for four weeks. To prevent further inflammation, dexamethasone was administered for 10 weeks. Six months after surgery and three months after discontinuing dexamethasone, the patient’s lung and liver lesions disappeared, her white blood cell count returned to normal, and her neuropsychiatric symptoms improved.

The academic community took particular note of this case because the parasite recovered from the patient was the first of its kind ever confirmed to infect a human. The parasite was identified as the third-stage larva of Ophidascaris robertsi, a parasitic roundworm native to Australia. While the adult parasite lives in carpet pythons, the larval stage can infect other animals.

The carpet python is a species commonly found near the lakeside home where the patient lived. Although the patient did not recall any direct contact with snakes, she often collected and ate wild plants from around her home. Therefore, the medical team believed it was highly likely that she became infected by handling or consuming plants contaminated with parasite eggs. This parasite’s larvae are known to survive for more than four years in laboratory mice. However, until this patient, no human infections had ever been reported, nor had it ever been found in the brain of a host.

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