What Is Neurocysticercosis? Brain Infection Diagnosed After UK Woman’s India Trip
A UK woman was diagnosed with neurocysticercosis after doctors found 38 parasites in her brain years after her India trip. The rare infection caused seizures, headaches, psychosis and long-term neurological complications before she recovered enough to return to work.
A 42-year-old woman from the UK was diagnosed with a rare parasitic brain infection years after travelling to India, with doctors discovering 38 parasites in her brain following a series of seizures.
Lowri Denman first experienced an alarming health episode in 2010 when she passed a metre-long tapeworm while using the bathroom at a restaurant. Although initial medical tests did not reveal anything unusual, her condition worsened over time. In 2011, she suffered her first seizure, leading doctors to diagnose her with neurocysticercosis, according to the BBC.
How Did She Contract The Infection?
Doctors believe Lowri contracted the infection during a three-month trip to India in 2007. Although she avoided eating meat to reduce the risk of food poisoning, she unknowingly consumed pork contaminated with microscopic eggs of the Taenia solium tapeworm.
UK Woman Contracted Rare Brain Parasite During India Trip
🇮🇳🏴 NIGHTMARE FUEL: A Welsh woman went on a 3-month trip to India and came home with 38 parasites in her brain.
Lowri Denman knew something was wrong when she discovered a meter-long tapeworm in her toilet... years after the trip took place.
It was just the first sign of… pic.twitter.com/ATZhwOOaAE
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 1, 2026
The larvae later travelled through her bloodstream and became lodged in her brain, where they formed cysts that triggered seizures, severe headaches and psychiatric symptoms.
Recalling the diagnosis, Lowri told the BBC, "The doctor sat me down and said, 'Right, okay, we've looked at your scans, and we've found 38 parasites in your brain.' My mum and I were just in shock, jaws on the floor, like, what on earth, what is that?" What Is Victorian Disease and How Does It Spread? Know Symptoms, Causes and Treatment As Amazon Confirms TB Outbreak at UK Warehouse.
Severe Health Complications
Lowri was treated with anti-parasitic medication and steroids. However, follow-up scans showed swelling around the parasites in her brain, leading to numbness, confusion and tingling sensations.
Her condition forced her to leave her job and move in with her father. She also experienced paranoia, psychosis, severe anxiety and panic attacks, spending six months in a neuropsychiatric hospital before gradually recovering. She eventually returned to work in 2022. UK Meningitis Outbreak: What Is MenB Vaccine? Emergency Rollout Expanded in Kent as Cases Rise to 27.
What Is Neurocysticercosis?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), neurocysticercosis is a preventable infection of the central nervous system caused by the pork tapeworm Taenia solium. It is one of the leading causes of epilepsy worldwide.
The disease develops when tapeworm larvae enter the bloodstream and lodge in brain tissue, forming fluid-filled cysts. If left untreated, intestinal tapeworm infection can progress to cysticercosis, which affects muscles, skin, eyes and the brain.
Symptoms Of Neurocysticercosis
Symptoms vary depending on the number, size and location of cysts in the brain. Common symptoms include:
- Seizures
- Persistent headaches
- Cognitive decline
- Neurological deficits
- Altered mental state
Treatment
Treatment usually involves a combination of anti-seizure medicines, corticosteroids, anti-parasitic drugs and, in some cases, surgery.
In Lowri's case, surgery was not required because the parasites eventually calcified after treatment. She has not suffered a seizure since 2017 but continues to take epilepsy medication for life. Her consulting physician, Dr Brendan Healy, described her as a "once-in-a-career" patient.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 02, 2026 05:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
