A living worm emerged in the human brain

In our country, when someone starts selling pineapples, it is said that a worm has entered his brain. They can also be called idioms from imagination, maybe it came into being from a saying. It is possible that a worm was born in the mind of a human being and he started talking nonsense. It is only from this incident that the concept was born that if a worm enters a person’s mind, it becomes a brain tumor.

However, no live worm has ever been found in a human brain in modern times. But the amazing incident that happened to an Australian woman in June 2020 proved that a worm can survive in the human brain. As if there is a true story behind the Urdu proverb that gave birth to it.

The story of a live worm being born in the brain of a 64-year-old woman is that she was admitted to a local hospital in January 2021. She was a resident of New South Wales and had been ill for three weeks. First I got stomach ache, then diarrhea started. Then came the fever and cold sweats. When the local doctor’s medicine did not help, she rushed to the hospital.

Now the doctor of the hospital started the treatment but could not succeed. By June 2022, she started forgetting things. He also suffered from depression. The doctor at the local hospital was unable to understand the nature of her illness, so the woman’s family was asked to take her to a state-of-the-art hospital in the capital, Canberra. When an MRI scan of the woman’s brain was done at the Canberra Hospital, it was found that some abnormality had occurred in the brain. It was decided to remove this defect by operation.

Dr. Haripriyabandi, a Sri Lankan-born neurosurgeon, performed the operation. But the poor surgeon was under no illusion that after opening the woman’s brain, a living worm would come out of it. He was shocked to see a red bug crawling in the brain of the patient.

This is the first time in the history of modern medicine that a worm has been found running in the brain of a living person. However, he caught the worm after tagvadu and preserved it in a small jar. She then went straight to the hospital to see an infectious disease doctor who happened to be a Sri Lankan.

It was sunny in Canberra after a week today. Dr. Sanjay Naike was sitting outside his office enjoying the sun when Dr. Haripriya came running. She looked a little worried. As she came she said: “Dr. Sanjay, you may not believe it. I just pulled a live worm out of a woman’s brain. He is doing a good round in the jar.”

It was an eight-centimeter long worm. Dr. Priya removed it and operated on the woman’s brain as the cause of the disease was now known.

But Dr. Priya did not understand what to do with the insect. That is why she came to Dr. Sanjay for consultation. Obviously, he was also surprised and worried. Like Dr. Priya, it was the first time in his life that a live worm came out of a patient’s brain.

Finally, the hospital administration quickly formed a committee of doctors to find out what kind of worm it is, how much it has harmed the woman and what kind of treatment the patient needs now. Dr. Sanjay says: “We searched the medical textbooks in the hospital but found no mention of a worm capable of multiplying in the human brain. So we had to take help from an outside expert.”

Dr. Sanjay is fortunate that Canberra has a laboratory of a research organization, Cisro (The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). He sent the jar of worms to the laboratory. A scientist who studies parasitic insects there said that the scientific name of this insect is “Ophidascaris robertsi”. It is a type of parasitic worm called “roundworm” which is usually found in the body of dragons.

The victim’s house is located near a lake. Carpet pythons are found around this lake. The lady used to cut edible grass from the shore of this lake and use it in cooking.

Dr. Mehrab Hussain is a well-known parasite researcher in Australia. They say that the woman must have cut grass that the carpet dragon had planted on and it contained the eggs or larvae of Ophidascaris robertsi. An egg or larva somehow entered the woman’s body through the mouth.

It is certain that the egg or larva flourished only when a suitable environment was provided in the female’s body. The larvae then reach the brain with the blood flow and make this place their abode. No other worms were recovered from the woman’s body. After long treatment, she is now healthy.

But this incident has revealed a bitter truth that has engulfed humanity… that germs, viruses and other harmful micro-organisms found in the animal world are now starting to target humans as well.

“Zontic Disease”

Germs, viruses, etc., which spread from animals to humans and cause infectious diseases, are called “zoonotic diseases”. In the past, zoonotic diseases were rare. The reason is that there was very little interaction between humans and animals. Gradually, humans started raising animals, germs, viruses, etc. from sick domestic animals were transferred to humans and made them sick as well. Thus began the spread of zoonotic diseases among mankind, including AIDS, influenza, Ebola virus disease, plague, Congo fever, dengue fever, leprosy, monkey pox, smallpox and many others.

Today, the human population has increased to more than eight billion. Humans are living near forests. Not only this, they have also started eating animals that were not eaten before. That is why the interbreeding of humans and animals is increasing. The same process also increased the incidence of zoonotic diseases in humans. Medical experts say that thirty new infectious diseases have emerged during the last thirty years. And 75% of them have zoonotic diseases.

This means that germs and viruses that cause diseases in animals are now preying on humans in greater numbers than in the past. This is a dangerous situation because an unknown germ or virus from an animal can enter the human body and cause a new infectious disease for which there is no cure. Then of course, that infectious disease can spread to the next world by engulfing millions and millions of people.

A recent example of this miracle is the SARS-CoV-2 (Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) virus, which is commonly known as the corona virus. This virus is found only in the bodies of bats and birds. But in the last months of 2019, this virus entered the body of another animal and was transferred to humans. This virus has spread the entire covid epidemic and almost stopped the business life in the world. So far, almost seventy million people have been confirmed to have died at the hands of this virus, while it is estimated that it has swallowed one million seventy to three million people.

Take the case of the Australian woman. Millions of people around the world are now living on the edge of forests. They also eat plants growing in forests. Any edible plant can contain germs or viruses from the body of any animal. And if it somehow reaches the human body, a new infectious disease can spread and destroy the human world.

The question is how to prevent the spread of zoonotic diseases? In this regard, experts say that wash your hands thoroughly with soap before and after touching an animal. Avoid eating and drinking in the area where there are many animals. If an animal is sick, wear gloves and touch it. Always wash the meat, vegetable or fruit thoroughly before use. Be it a pet, handle it very carefully. Sometimes an animal does not appear to be sick, but a dangerous microbe or virus may be present in its body. God willing, if it enters the human body, any new calamity can be born.

Experts say that children under the age of five, people over the age of sixty-five, those with a weak immune system and pregnant women may be more susceptible to zoonotic diseases. The main reason for this is that their immune system is weak. Therefore, it is not able to eliminate new germs or viruses etc. entering the body and it flourishes and becomes the cause of new diseases. Therefore, the immune system must be strong to fight against zoonotic diseases. In this way it is possible to prevent many diseases. A good diet and healthy lifestyle make this natural system powerful. n