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Woman develops dog tapeworm in her spine; doctors go clueless

A 35 years old woman reportedly experienced a feeling of electrical zaps in the corners of her thighs and knee. After a few months of experiencing this feeling, her muscles started to weaken and she felt fatigue. When she consulted the doctor, she was terrified to know what was actually behind her immense pain: the parasitic monsters. The common tapeworms and the larvae of these tapeworms had found a home in the spine of the woman. The study report was published in the Journal of the New England Journal of medicine.

The women who had tapeworm larvae in her spine could barely stand for more than a few minutes. Soon she was rushed for medical help before the problem started worsening. Before getting started with the medical processes, the medical staff and the experts collected as much information about the woman and her condition as possible. When asked about her condition, she stated that she initially experienced the pain in her legs while riding her horse three months before. She belongs to France and has never traveled abroad in her life. She has a pet and recently was associated with cattle.

She was sent for a total body examination by the doctors and later the results showed that the woman had started losing sensation in her legs and feet. There was an infection diagnosed in her body as well and her white blood cell count was also more than the normal count. The MRI results helped in identifying the root cause of her pain. She had developed a lumpy lesion in the center of her spine, as the MRI scan suggested. The doctors successfully removed the lesion that was at the 9th thoracic vertebra and then repaired it with some implants.

When the lump was removed from her backbone, it was sent for further investigation and identification was done. The doctors found that the lump had cysts of the dog tapeworm named Echinococcus Granulosus. These are the tapeworm found in the four-legged human-friendly animals, the cats, and dogs. Humans rarely catch these tapeworms especially the dog tapeworm. It all depends on how humans prepare their food and it generally appears in the human respiratory system or the liver. However, doctors still have a little clue as to how this tapeworm got into the woman’s backbone and for how long she has been infected.

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