A British traveller has spoken about the rare brain parasite infection she believes she contracted while visiting India, after years of unexplained symptoms culminated in doctors discovering dozens of parasites in her brain.
A rare parasitic infection contracted while travelling abroad left one woman facing years of recovery
Lowri Denman, from Cardiff, was diagnosed with neurocysticercosis, an uncommon infection caused by pork tapeworm larvae, several years after returning from a three-month trip around India. The condition can lead to seizures, severe headaches and neurological complications, although it is rarely diagnosed in the UK.
Ms Denman said she first became concerned in 2010 after discovering a tapeworm, around a metre long, while using a restaurant toilet. At the time, medical tests failed to identify any ongoing infection and she continued with daily life.
Within a year, however, she began suffering severe headaches before experiencing a seizure that led doctors to carry out brain scans.
She told GB News: “The next thing I came around and I was in an ambulance and I was like: ‘How has that happened? Why?'”
Scans later revealed dozens of parasites in her brain.
She added: “The doctor sat me down and said: ‘Right, okay, we’ve looked at your scans and we’ve found 38 parasites on your brain.'”
Her consultant, infectious diseases specialist Dr Brendan Healy, believes she most likely contracted the infection during her travels in India, despite avoiding meat throughout the trip. He suspects microscopic tapeworm eggs may have contaminated food she consumed.
Following treatment with anti-parasitic medication and steroids, Ms Denman initially recovered and returned to an active lifestyle. However, swelling around the parasites later triggered further seizures and neurological complications, forcing her to give up work and undergo lengthy rehabilitation.
The parasites have since calcified and no longer require surgery. Ms Denman has been seizure-free since 2017 but continues to take epilepsy medication.
She now hopes sharing her experience will encourage greater awareness of travel-related infections and the importance of seeking medical advice if unusual symptoms develop after returning from overseas, even if they appear months or years later.