It’s the stuff of nightmares. You’ve been having random, intense headaches for months, for no apparent reason. You finally turn to your doctor for answers. And their answer is...
A parasite. And not just a single parasite. EIGHT tapeworm eggs lodged firmly in your brain, surviving off your blood supply and beginning to grow.
That’s exactly what happened to 31-year-old Yadira Rostro, a woman from Garland, Texas. After suffering with headaches and loss of vision, Rostro went to the hospital – only to be informed sacs of larvae from tapeworm eggs had begun to grow inside her brain.
The parasites were likely picked up on a holiday two years ago, where Rostro may have ingested food contaminated with fecal matter containing a tapeworm or an egg (a common way for tapeworms to transfer between hosts). Tapeworms normally pass through the body in a reasonably harmless manner, but occasionally the worm can travel to different parts of the body via the bloodstream and end up lodged somewhere you really don't want them.
The eggs have since been removed and Rostro is expected to make a full recovery.
Check out the following video courtesy of News 8 to see the sacs after removal.