VOA健康报道2023--Doctors Remove Live Worm from Australian Woman’s Brain

Doctors Remove Live Worm from Australian Woman’s Brain

A brain doctor in Australia received a huge surprise during an operation on a patient's brain last year:

"Gosh, what is that, it's moving. Take it out of my hands."

That is what Australian neurosurgeon Hari Priya Bandi said about finding a worm, or parasite¹, last year in a patient's brain.

Bandi was looking for the unexplained cause of symptoms in a 64-year-old woman.

She found the cause after drilling a small hole in the woman's skull² and looking at her brain. Bandi performed the operation at Canberra Hospital in 2022. She discussed the discovery this week after publishing a study with Dr. Sanjaya Senanayake in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The doctors said the worm was a roundworm native to Australia. It was about eight centimeters. Before the discovery, it was not known to affect humans. The worms are often found in carpet pythons, a kind of large snake found in Australia and on some Pacific islands.

Senanayake was on duty at the hospital last year when the worm was found.

"I got a call saying: ‘We've just removed a live worm from this patient's brain,'" he said.

The woman started medical treatment earlier in 2022 after saying she was experiencing depression and forgetfulness. Brain images showed changes over a three-month period.

Bandi's investigation³ was expected to show an infection or a cancerous tumor⁴. Instead, she found the worm.

"Everyone in that operating theater was absolutely stunned⁵," Senanayake said of the "wriggling⁶" thing.

Before the operation, the patient had come to a hospital in New South Wales with stomach sickness, pain, and sweats at night.

Bandi said the patient did not show any problems from the worm removal. Her mental health is improving, too, but some problems continue.

"She was so grateful to have an answer for what has been causing her trouble for so very long," Bandi said. The patient has not been back to the hospital. Doctors gave her some medicine to kill parasites⁷. Bandi said the doctors are continuing to watch the patient's overall health.

"We're keeping a close eye on her," Senanayake told an Australian broadcaster.

The doctors believe the woman may have accidentally eaten the worm's eggs. She lives in the same area as the carpet python. The python sheds the worms and their eggs in its waste. They believe it is possible that the woman gathered some native plants to eat, and they had the worm's eggs on them.

Words in This Story

worm –n. a long thin simple animal

parasite –n. a plant or animal that lives on another plant or animal from which it gets food and protection

symptom –n. a sign of disease or infection

tumor –n. a mass of tissue that is made up of abnormal cells

stunned –adj. shocked, very surprised

wriggle⁸ –v. moving in small, quick twisting movements from side to side

sweats –n. (pl.) repeatedly producing fluid from the skin as a sign of sickness

grateful –adj. feeling and showing thanks

shed –v. to lose something naturally; to have something drop away

1 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

2 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

5 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

6 wriggling   

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕

参考例句：

• The baby was wriggling around on my lap. 婴儿在我大腿上扭来扭去。
• Something that looks like a gray snake is wriggling out. 有一种看来象是灰蛇的东西蠕动着出来了。 来自辞典例句

7 parasites   

寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫

参考例句：

• These symptoms may be referable to virus infection rather than parasites. 这些症状也许是由病毒感染引起的，而与寄生虫无关。
• Kangaroos harbor a vast range of parasites. 袋鼠身上有各种各样的寄生虫。

8 wriggle   

v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒

参考例句：

• I've got an appointment I can't wriggle out of.我有个推脱不掉的约会。
• Children wriggle themselves when they are bored.小孩子感到厌烦时就会扭动他们的身体。