A Welsh woman who backpacked through India in 2007 was left with 38 parasitic cysts in her brain after unknowingly ingesting microscopic pork tapeworm eggs. Lowri Denman, now 42, contracted neurocysticercosis, a rare parasitic brain infection, likely through contaminated food or water during her travels.
Initial Symptoms and Misdiagnosis
Denman, who maintained a strict vegetarian diet to avoid stomach bugs, first experienced signs of illness in 2010, three years after her trip. She passed a metre-long adult tapeworm in a restaurant toilet. Despite this alarming event, stool tests came back clear, and Denman felt well, so she assumed the ordeal was over.
In 2011, severe headaches led to a tonic-clonic seizure, and Denman collapsed, waking up in an ambulance. CT and MRI scans initially suggested another infection, but Denman's mother asked if the seizure could be linked to the tapeworm. Further tests confirmed that larvae from the same parasite had traveled through her bloodstream, lodging 38 cysts in her brain.
Treatment and Mental Health Crisis
Denman underwent anti-parasitic medication and heavy steroids to reduce brain swelling. While this initially worked, she collapsed at work in 2015 with major fresh swelling around the parasites. The combination of brain inflammation and prolonged steroid use triggered a severe mental health crisis, including anxiety, paranoia, and temporary psychosis, resulting in a six-week stay in a neuropsychiatric hospital ward.
According to the BBC, the parasites were not surgically removed but killed through treatment and have since calcified in her brain tissue. Denman has been seizure-free since 2017 and has returned to work.
Raising Awareness
Denman is now launching a crowdfunded podcast, 38 Parasites, to raise awareness about neurocysticercosis and its impact on sufferers and their families. She hopes to educate others about the risks of parasitic infections from travel and the importance of proper diagnosis.
