A chilling X-ray scan displaying calcified parasites embedded throughout a patient's body has gone viral on social media. The image, shared by emergency room doctor Sam Ghali, shows what he described as one of the "most insane X-rays" he's encountered, with the patient's torso dotted by countless oblong shapes resembling a hailstorm.
Dr Ghali said that the disease, which is termed cysticercosis, is due to the presence of larval cysts of the tapeworm Taenia solium. The parasite infects humans through eating raw or undercooked pork infested with larval cysts. Though the tapeworm can develop within weeks in the human gut, cysticercosis is caused by the migration of larvae into soft tissues where they eventually calcify and form cysts.
"The life cycle begins with a human consuming raw or undercooked pig, and then that person becomes infected with the worms in their GI tract and passes the eggs along to another unfortunate human who then consumes them."
According to a report by The New York Post, cysticercosis materialises when infected people pass on tapeworm eggs to others through their faecal matter. This can happen when people don't properly wash their hands after using the bathroom or through water contaminated with faeces.
This unnamed patient case makes one appreciate the risks of eating pork that has not been properly cooked, for infections from such could lead to more complicated conditions like muscles, skin damage, and even to the brain. This X-ray image is enough to make anyone recall the consequences of bad food preparation.
