A brain doctor in Australia received a huge surprise during an operation on a patient’s brain last year: “Gosh, what is that, it’s moving. Take it out of my hands.” That is what Australian neurosurgeon Hari Priya Bandi said about finding a worm, or parasite, last year in a patient’s brain. Bandi was looking for the unexplained cause of symptoms in a 64-year-old woman.

澳大利亚的一位脑科医生去年在为患者进行大脑手术时得到了巨大的惊喜：“天哪，那是什么，它在动。把它从我手里夺走。” 这就是澳大利亚神经外科医生哈里·普里亚·班迪（Hari Priya Bandi）去年在患者大脑中发现蠕虫或寄生虫时所说的。Bandi 正在寻找一名 64 岁女性出现不明原因的症状。

She found the cause after drilling a small hole in the woman’s skull and looking at her brain. Bandi performed the operation at Canberra Hospital in 2022. She discussed the discovery this week after publishing a study with Dr. Sanjaya Senanayake in Emerging Infectious Diseases. The doctors said the worm was a roundworm native to Australia. It was about eight centimeters. Before the discovery, it was not known to affect humans. The worms are often found in carpet pythons, a kind of large snake found in Australia and on some Pacific islands.

她在这名妇女的头骨上钻了一个小孔并检查了她的大脑后找到了原因。Bandi 于 2022 年在堪培拉医院进行了手术。本周，她与 Sanjaya Senanayake 博士在《新发传染病》中发表了一项研究后讨论了这一发现。医生说，这种蠕虫是澳大利亚本土的蛔虫。大约有八厘米。在发现之前，人们并不知道它会影响人类。这些蠕虫经常出现在地毯蟒身上，这是一种在澳大利亚和一些太平洋岛屿上发现的大型蛇。

Senanayake was on duty at the hospital last year when the worm was found. “I got a call saying: ‘We’ve just removed a live worm from this patient’s brain,’” he said.

去年发现蠕虫时，森纳纳亚克正在医院值班。“我接到电话说：‘我们刚刚从这名患者的大脑中取出了一条活虫，’”他说。

The woman started medical treatment earlier in 2022 after saying she was experiencing depression and forgetfulness. Brain images showed changes over a three-month period. Bandi’s investigation was expected to show an infection or a cancerous tumor. Instead, she found the worm. “Everyone in that operating theater was absolutely stunned,” Senanayake said of the “wriggling” thing. Before the operation, the patient had come to a hospital in New South Wales with stomach sickness, pain, and sweats at night.

这名妇女自 2022 年早些时候开始接受治疗，此前她表示自己患有抑郁症和健忘症。大脑图像显示了三个月内的变化。班迪的调查预计会显示感染或癌性肿瘤。相反，她发现了蠕虫。“手术室里的每个人都惊呆了，”塞纳纳亚克谈到这个“蠕动”的东西时说道。手术前，患者因胃病、疼痛、夜间出汗而来到新南威尔士州的一家医院。

Bandi said the patient did not show any problems from the worm removal. Her mental health is improving, too, but some problems continue. “She was so grateful to have an answer for what has been causing her trouble for so very long,” Bandi said. The patient has not been back to the hospital. Doctors gave her some medicine to kill parasites. Bandi said the doctors are continuing to watch the patient’s overall health. “We’re keeping a close eye on her,” Senanayake told an Australian broadcaster. The doctors believe the woman may have accidentally eaten the worm’s eggs. She lives in the same area as the carpet python. The python sheds the worms and their eggs in its waste. They believe it is possible that the woman gathered some native plants to eat, and they had the worm’s eggs on them.

班迪说，患者在清除蠕虫过程中没有出现任何问题。她的心理健康状况也在改善，但一些问题仍然存在。班迪说：“她非常感激能找到长期以来困扰她的问题的答案。”患者尚未返回医院。医生给了她一些杀死寄生虫的药物。班迪说，医生正在继续观察患者的整体健康状况。“我们正在密切关注她，”塞纳纳亚克告诉澳大利亚广播公司。医生认为这名妇女可能不小心吃了虫卵。她和地毯蟒生活在同一地区。蟒蛇将蠕虫及其卵排出体外。他们认为，这名妇女可能采集了一些本地植物来吃，而这些植物上有虫卵。