No.1219310
An eight-year-old girl suffered crippling headaches and epileptic seizures after her brain became infested with 100 tapeworm eggs.
The unnamed girl, from New Delhi, was initially treated with a high dose
of steroids for suspected brain cysts.
Rather than cure her symptoms, the medication caused her to balloon from 88lb (40kg) to 132lb (60kg), and left her
breathless and unable to walk.
Six months later, the girl's desperate parents took her to Fortis Hopsital in Gurgaon,
where scans revealed she was suffering from
a condition known as neurocysticercosis.
The eggs are thought to have traveled via the bloodstream to her
brain from her stomach after she ate unwashed fruit or vegetables, or undercooked pork.
After undergoing treatment to kill the eggs, the girl gradually recovered and is able to walk again.
Scan shows the infestation of tapeworm eggs
(shown as white circles) in a girl's brain
The eggs, seen from a front angle of the brain, were initially misdiagnosed as brain cysts
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'We had no idea our daughter could get such a dreadful disease'
The girl's treatment began with medication to reduce the swelling, followed by therapy to kill the tapeworms.
She has since lost all the weight she gained while on steroids and has returned to school.
The girl's father, who declined to be named, said: 'We had
absolutely no idea that our healthy and cheerful daughter could ever get such a dreadful disease.
'But I think we are extremely lucky to get [the] right treatment before [the] eggs hatched and do more damage to our daughter's brain.'