Man's Headache Caused by Tapeworm in Brain Sheds Light on Rare Condition

A man's headache that turned out to be the result of a parasitic infection has shed light on a rare condition caused by tapeworm infections.

While tapeworm infections usually affect the digestive tract, in rare cases the parasite can infect the brain, leading to a condition called neurocysticercosis. Luis Ortiz, 26, dealt with that rare infection in August after a headache left him nauseated and confused. 

Luis Ortiz

Ortiz was visiting his family in Napa, California, when the symptoms started over the course of one day, he told ABC News. His headache left him confused in the family home and he ended up vomiting before his parents took him into the emergency room.

Once there, Ortiz was stunned to learn from the doctors that he had tapeworm larva in his brain that was cutting off blood flow.

"I think it hit me hardest when the doc said you have a parasite in your head and we have to operate to take it out," Ortiz told ABC News today. "The doctor told me if I would have come a half-hour later than when I did, I wouldn’t be alive."

Once in surgery, Ortiz said doctors were able to remove the cyst and the larva while it was still alive.

"He’s like, 'Yeah, we took it out and it was blocking the veins flowing [blood] through the brains,'" Ortiz recalled of what his surgeon told him after the operation. "He showed me the worm in the jar."