Canberra Hospital’s Dr. Sanjaya Senanayake found himself in an extraordinary medical scenario when a colleague, neurosurgeon Dr. Hari Priya Bandi, phoned him in disbelief. Their patient had an 8cm parasitic roundworm wriggling inside her brain.
The patient, a 64-year-old woman from New South Wales, had exhibited a string of troubling symptoms since early 2021, including forgetfulness, depression, dry cough, fever and night sweats, eventually leading to the shocking discovery, according to The Guardian. The worm, alive and kicking, was sent to a CSIRO scientist who pinpointed it as Ophidascaris robertsi, a roundworm commonly found in pythons.
This unprecedented case illuminated the potential transmission of diseases from animals to humans as habitats intertwine, underlining the relevance of such zoonotic diseases. The patient’s recovery has been marked by her courage and the unique insights gained from her remarkable case.