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Neurocysticercosis

Neurocysticercosis (cysticercosis cerebri) · Neurocysticerkóza

What it is

Larval cysts of the pork tapeworm lodged in the brain, caught by swallowing eggs shed by a human tapeworm carrier — not by eating pork; a leading cause of adult-onset epilepsy in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Symptoms & signs

  • Seizures
  • headache
  • signs of raised pressure: vomiting, drowsiness, blurred vision
  • confusion or dementia
  • lumps under the skin or in muscles

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now A first fit or a fit lasting over 5 minutes
  • call 112 / 911 now Severe headache with vomiting, drowsiness or blurred vision
  • call 112 / 911 now Weakness of one side of the body
  • see a doctor soon Headaches that keep getting worse

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • MRI or CT and antibody blot
  • Antiepileptic drugs trials support
  • Albendazole for living cysts, with praziquantel added when there are more than two — faster cyst clearance trials support
  • corticosteroids with antiparasitic treatment to damp inflammation; eyes examined first and Strongyloides treated
  • no antiparasitic drug for calcified cysts or cyst-crowded brain (encephalitis)
  • endoscopic removal of ventricular cysts; shunt for hydrocephalus
  • treat tapeworm carriers in the household

Natural & lifestyle

  • Hand washing after the toilet and before cooking
  • sanitation that keeps pigs from human faeces
  • well-cooked pork (prevents the tapeworm)

Emerging & experimental

  • Community programmes — treating human tapeworm carriers, pig vaccination (TSOL18) and oxfendazole — interrupted transmission in northern Peru
  • better tests for tapeworm carriers

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Papaya or pumpkin seeds — traditional against gut worms; cannot reach brain cysts anecdotal / traditional
  • Avoiding pork alone — the brain cysts come from tapeworm eggs passed by people, so vegetarians get them too not confirmed in trials

ICD codes