Burning in woman’s legs turned out to be slug parasites migrating to her brain

https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/02/burning-in-womans-legs-turned-out-to-be-slug-parasites-digging-in-her-brain/

150 points · 24 comments · view on lemmy.world

24 Comments

TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world · 40 pts · 1y (4 replies)

fuck is it rat lung worm?

edit: it is rat lung worm. prob contracted in Hawaii

SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Remember that teenager that ate a slug in a dare and contracted rat lungworm. He ended up in a coma, woke up paralyzed and eventually died.

So yeah remember to wash your vegetables, a tiny snail or slug can infect you.

AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y

Wow that was as abrupt as the end of Squid Game S2.

baines@lemmy.cafe · 9 pts · 1y (1 reply)

wtf hawaii, 22 years there and never heard of it but it looks relatively recent

at least it is rare

TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y

Yeah it's been a thing. Mostly unwashed or poorly washed greens

recursive_recursion@lemmy.ca · 35 pts · 1y (8 replies)

Alright that's enough internet for me today🫠🙃

Iheartcheese@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 1y (7 replies)

Don't forget that you have eyelash mites

Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 1y (5 replies)

Don’t forget your gut biome is a friend, or else you’ll always remember that fecal transplants are an effective treatment.

dilroopgill@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y (4 replies)

I lowkey want that, i grew up with the worst diet and crave the least nutritious food 24/7. I can make and eat some great healthy food, 5 seconds later I want junkfood with a full stomach since it doesn't satiate.

mouserat@discuss.tchncs.de · 6 pts · 1y (2 replies)

Did you try to endure the cravings for a few days? If you switch to a healthy diet it's annoying first, but after some time you are used to it. The microbiom changes - bacteria population processing healthy food grow, others starve.

dilroopgill@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

I did it once, lost hella weight, its way harder to do it again the second time knowing how it was (post covd gyms closing killed my routine, started doordashing hella, gained a lot of weight I had lost back, slowly lost half of that again)

dilroopgill@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

I've broken a leg and enduring cravings felt worse

dilroopgill@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

If gut biomes influence what food you crave since its what the bacteria wants

recursive_recursion@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 1y

oh joy🫠

chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 27 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Really reassuring to know that even if you go multiple times to the hospital, they will probably dismiss it until the parasites are actually infesting your brain and making you crazy

ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 1y

At which point it becomes a psychiatric problem

some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org · 10 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Fortunately, the woman's symptoms cleared with the treatment, and she was discharged from the hospital after six days.

And with debt that destroyed her credit and ruined her life regardless.

slackassassin@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y

Probably not. She was from New England with a primary care physician and just returned from a trip to Bangkok, Thailand; Tokyo, Japan; and Hawaii. She was insured.

jamie_oliver@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 1y (2 replies)

I'm sorry but I am gonna choose to forget I ever learnt about this hellspawn.

AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 1y (1 reply)

I suggest you don't read about prions.

Fatal, untreatable.

https://www.cdc.gov/prions/about/index.html

jamie_oliver@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y

I'll just wait until DOGE delete the cdc webpage before clicking this link.

Edit:

sporadic fatal insomnia

Ah, as opposed to the regularly scheduled kind

This whole article reads insane

Experts eventually concluded that the spread of infection in cattle was likely tied to feeding practices. They speculate it began when cows were fed meat and bone meal from other cows that had prion disease.

that's fucked up please stop

peoplebeproblems@midwest.social · 9 pts · 1y

Woah, what a fucking wild parasite.

Testing for the parasite is difficult, and they can't even detect it from a spinal tap some times.

The good news is that the immune system fights it pretty well, and if death occurs, it's because the persons body was trying to protect the brain, but the inflammation of the issues created too much pressure and damaged the brain.

So the treatment is to let the body do its thing, but to prevent brain damage, they gotta drain the cerebral spinal fluid, and use anti-inflammatory steroids.

JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y

This is terrifying. Imagine being able to inflict imaginary suffering on a person. No scars.

atomicpoet@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y

God damn, that’s horrifying.

zante@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 1y
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