Doctors find living parasitic worm in woman's brain for the first time in the world

The woman, 64, began experiencing abdominal pain in late January 2021, but a year later was suffering from forgetfulness and depression - this which led to her being referred to hospital in Canberra - where the 8cm long parasitic roundworm was discovered

The 8 cm long ascaris came out of the patient's brain (

Image: Canberra Health)

Doctors have been left baffled when they extract a living parasitic worm from a woman's brain in a world first - eerily similar to the plot of zombie movies.

The unidentified 64-year-old patient was first admitted to hospital in late January 2021 after suffering weeks of grinding symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhea, dry cough, fever and night sweats.

A year later, she had lost her memory and was in a deep depression, which led to her being transferred to hospital in Canberra. Once there, she underwent a brain scan, which revealed a number of abnormalities. The surgical team therefore decided to operate on him.

Neurosurgeon Dr Hari Priya Bandi was in the chair but was baffled when she removed an 8cm long parasitic roundworm from his patient's head. Having no idea what the creature was or how it got there, she contacted her colleagues, including the infectious disease doctor on site, Dr. Sanja Senanayake.

The woman suffered from abdominal pain, forgetfulness and depression, among other concerning symptoms (

Picture:

Canberra Health)