Cerebral Cysticercosis Mimicking Malignant Glioma

What is it about?

Social SecCysticercosis is the most common parasitic disease worldwide; with an estimated prevalence greater than 50 million persons are infected. The life cycle of the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, begins at the larval stage in pigs. Human tapeworm infection occurs when T. solium cysts are ingested from undercooked pork. The larvae attach to the human gut and grow into adult tapeworms. The adult tapeworm then sheds proglottids into human feces that can contaminate the pig food supply. Eggs ingested by pigs develop into the larval stage, travel through the intestinal wall, enter the bloodstream, lodge in various pig tissues, and develop into cysts. When humans ingest eggs, through fecal-oral transmission, they become dead-end hosts of the larval stage of the parasite and develop cysticercosis similar to pigs. This parasite is a leading cause of seizures and epilepsy in the developing world that is caused by infection with Taenia solium.urity Expenses with Patients with Headache by the National Institute of Social Security from 2008 to 2014 - Brazil

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Why is it important?

Cysticercosis is the most common parasitic disease worldwide; with an estimated prevalence greater than 50 million persons are infected. The life cycle of the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, begins at the larval stage in pigs. Human tapeworm infection occurs when T. solium cysts are ingested from undercooked pork. The larvae attach to the human gut and grow into adult tapeworms. The adult tapeworm then sheds proglottids into human feces that can contaminate the pig food supply. Eggs ingested by pigs develop into the larval stage, travel through the intestinal wall, enter the bloodstream, lodge in various pig tissues, and develop into cysts. When humans ingest eggs, through fecal-oral transmission, they become dead-end hosts of the larval stage of the parasite and develop cysticercosis similar to pigs. This parasite is a leading cause of seizures and epilepsy in the developing world that is caused by infection with Taenia solium.