Brain-damaging tapeworm could be in your monsoon food and water; Doctors list urgent risks to avoid now
Mumbai
continues to battle waterlogged streets and overflowing drains, doctors are now sounding the alarm on a hidden but deadly threat, a brain-damaging tapeworm known as Taenia solium. This isn't just about food poisoning or stomach upsets, this tapeworm can travel to your brain and cause seizures, intense headaches, and even long-term neurological damage. And with the ongoing rains and sanitation problems, the risk is growing.
It starts with a condition called taeniasis, which happens when people eat undercooked pork or swallow eggs of the pork tapeworm through contaminated food or dirty water. But here's the scary part, sometimes the larvae don't stay in the stomach. They travel through the blood and reach the brain, forming cysts. That's when it becomes neurocysticercosis, a condition that can cause fits, memory problems, confusion, and more.
Explore courses from Top Institutes in
Please select course:
Select a Course Category
CXO
Leadership
others
PGDM
Public Policy
Product Management
Healthcare
MCA
MBA
Finance
Cybersecurity
Degree
Design Thinking
Management
Others
Data Analytics
Operations Management
Technology
Data Science
healthcare
Data Science
Artificial Intelligence
Project Management
Digital Marketing
Skills you'll gain:
Technology Strategy & Innovation
Emerging Technologies & Digital Transformation
Leadership in Technology Management
Cybersecurity & Risk Management
Duration:
24 Weeks
Indian School of Business
ISB Chief Technology Officer
Starts on
Jun 28, 2024
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Customer-Centricity & Brand Strategy
Product Marketing, Distribution, & Analytics
Digital Strategies & Innovation Skills
Leadership Insights & AI Integration Expertise
Duration:
10 Months
IIM Kozhikode
IIMK Chief Marketing and Growth Officer
Starts on
Apr 7, 2024
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Operations Strategy for Business Excellence
Organizational Transformation
Corporate Communication & Crisis Management
Capstone Project Presentation
Duration:
11 Months
IIM Lucknow
Chief Operations Officer Programme
Starts on
Jun 30, 2024
Get Details
Skills you'll gain:
Digital Strategy Development Expertise
Emerging Technologies & Digital Trends
Data-driven Decision Making
Leadership in the Digital Age
Duration:
40 Weeks
Indian School of Business
ISB Chief Digital Officer
Starts on
Jun 30, 2024
Get Details
Why Is It Worse During the Monsoon?
During heavy rains, drainage system often gets clogged, making street food stalls and homes vulnerable to contamination from dirty water. Add to that the common habit of eating spicy roadside snacks without checking hygiene, and you have the perfect recipe for disaster.
Experts say poor handwashing, open drains, and even unwashed vegetables can increase the chance of tapeworm eggs entering the body, especially during this season.
What Are the Symptoms?
Neurocysticercosis may quietly sit in your brain for a while, but when symptoms hit, they can be serious:
Live Events
Sudden seizures or fits
Long-lasting headaches
Confusion or memory loss
In extreme cases, permanent brain damage
Children and those with weak immunity are most at risk.
How Do Doctors Detect It?
Doctors use MRI and CT scans to see where the cysts are in the brain. They look for different stages:
Vesicular stage: Early, with no swelling.
Colloidal stage: Inflammation and active infection.
Calcified stage: Old cysts that have hardened.
The earlier the infection is caught, the better the chances of avoiding permanent damage.
Stay Safe: What Can You Do?
This infection can be prevented. Here's how to protect yourself and your family during the monsoon:
Don't eat undercooked pork.
Wash vegetables well before eating.
Only drink clean, filtered or boiled water.
Wash your hands before every meal.
Buy meat only from reliable shops.
If you or someone in your family experiences a sudden seizure or a headache that won't go away, don't delay. According to Dr Pavan Pai, a Mumbai-based neurologist, 'Ignoring symptoms can lead to long-term brain damage. Early treatment is key.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Print
7 days ago
- The Print
How to detect early signs of disease outbreak? Govt's plan is to expand wastewater surveillance
The system works as an early detection system for outbreaks, allowing public health officials to better understand and respond to public health threats. People infected with certain viruses and bacteria shed the pathogens in their feces or urine even if they are asymptomatic or do not seek medical care. The initiative led by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in collaboration with some other government and private agencies, including the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), is set to be rolled out over the next six months. Now identified and deployed as an important public health tool worldwide, it allows authorities to detect disease-causing germs in wastewater by testing for their nucleic makeup in the sewage. New Delhi: The central government has decided to massively expand wastewater surveillance across the country, setting a target for itself to identify more than 10 disease-causing germs. Besides picking early warning signs of outbreaks, the move is also aimed at quicker implementation of strategies to manage infectious diseases. Public health laboratories can then test untreated samples from municipal wastewater facilities and detect the presence and burden of these germs in the population. The pathogens that will be surveilled through the project will include non-typhoidal salmonella, Taenia solium, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia, Ascaris, Listeria monocytogenes and Leptospira—that cause serious stomach, liver or diarrheal infections—as well as the highly infectious Mycobacterium tuberculosis and NewCastle disease virus. In addition, said ICMR director general Dr Rajiv Bahl, pathogens causing deadly avian or bird flu will also be surveyed through the project. 'We will test the pathogens that can test … whatever is likely to come in wastewater, we are going to test,' Dr Bahl told ThePrint, adding that most infectious disease outbreaks manifest symptoms like fever, diarrhea and respiratory illnesses. In India, wastewater surveillance was first started in 2001 with the help of the World Health Organization (WHO) to track poliomyelitis or polio-causing viruses as part of the National Public Health Surveillance (NPHS) programme. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme was expanded to include SARS-CoV-2 strains. The latest expansion of the project, to be conducted through animal-human interface projects in 3 slaughterhouses and 11 bird sanctuaries in different cities, will also include all coronaviruses, ICMR scientists said. The move is particularly significant given the constant threat of massive disease outbreaks of zoonotic origin or viruses that jump from animals and birds to humans, mainly propelled by climate change. Currently, polio virus is routinely tested across the country at 65 sites under the NPHS. Additionally, as an extension of the programme, it is also being deployed to identify antimicrobial resistance (or AMR)—which poses a major threat to public health due to resistance in disease-causing agents against available antibiotics—across 60 hospitals in the country. Also Read: Gut health probiotics now among top selling drugs in India, but doctors advise caution against hype Granular data without individual testing Wastewater surveillance integrates expertise from fields such as public health, ecology, urban planning, and virology, recognising the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, serving as a key component of the 'One Health' concept. Experts ThePrint spoke to said the standard procedure is wastewater sample collection, nucleic acid extraction and amplification, followed by its testing to quantify pathogens with PCR-based methods (aimed at looking for specific pathogens) or next-generation sequencing (NGS), which is used for variant detection. Given the nature of wastewater which comprises waste from households, livestock and environment and many other components that end up in it, the information generated is significant, and at minimal cost. Dr Rakesh Kumar Mishra, scientist and director of Bengaluru-based Tata Institute of Genetics and Society, who specialises in genomics and epigenetics, told ThePrint that just a few samples, from cities with millions of people, for example, can indicate the circulating pathogens without testing individuals. For instance, in cities with good sewage systems, it is possible to detect pathogens specific to a locality. The surveillance is more effective in generating crucial and granular pathogen-related information from cities with better planned sewage systems but can also give a rough idea from others, said Dr Mishra. Dr Mishra is also the chief principal investigator of the Alliance for Pathogen Surveillance Innovations (APSI), which is a multi-city consortium of research, clinical, public and private institutions. APSI has been working with the ICMR and NCDC on the wastewater surveillance project. Scientific studies have established that detecting viruses in wastewater gives decision-makers a lead time of 10-14 days. This time can be vital for public health authorities to re-look at priorities, reallocate human resources, vaccinate targeted groups and alert the medical fraternity. This is what happened in Canada in 2023 during an outbreak of Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV—a pathogen that can lead to high numbers of hospitalisation. (Edited by Amrtansh Arora) Also Read: ICMR confirms diarrhoeal pathogen in Guillain-Barre Syndrome case samples but cause of outbreak unclear
Time of India
04-08-2025
- Time of India
CBSE Class 10 supplementary results 2025: Check how to download marksheet from results.cbse.nic.in
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is set to release the Class 10 supplementary results 2025 shortly on its official website, . Students who appeared for the supplementary exam can download their provisional mark sheets immediately after checking their results. This will help avoid any discrepancies before collecting the original documents from their respective schools. Where to check CBSE Class 10 supplementary results Once declared, students can check their results by visiting CBSE has advised all candidates to regularly monitor the official portal for any updates regarding the result announcement. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Healthcare Public Policy Operations Management Digital Marketing Data Science Finance MCA MBA Data Science CXO Product Management healthcare Management Technology Cybersecurity Degree Design Thinking PGDM Others Leadership others Project Management Skills you'll gain: Financial Analysis in Healthcare Financial Management & Investing Strategic Management in Healthcare Process Design & Analysis Duration: 12 Weeks Indian School of Business Certificate Program in Healthcare Management Starts on Jun 13, 2024 Get Details Steps to download the CBSE Class 10 supplementary result To check and download the result, students can follow these steps: Visit the official website, On the homepage, click on 'Senior School (Class X) Certificate Examination (Supplementary) Results 2025'. A new page will open. Enter your roll number, school number, admit card ID, and the security pin. Click on 'Submit'. The result will appear on the screen. Download and save the result for future use. In 2023, the CBSE Class 10 supplementary results were declared on August 7, while in 2024, they were announced on August 5. Based on these trends, students can expect the 2025 results to be released in the first week of August. Live Events Options for students after result declaration Students who are not satisfied with their marks can apply for re-evaluation or verification once the results are announced. This can be done through the official CBSE website. Those who are unable to pass the supplementary examination will need to reappear in the regular board exams scheduled for February-March 2026, in line with CBSE's academic guidelines. DigiLocker mark sheets valid for official use CBSE has confirmed that digital mark sheets and certificates available through DigiLocker are valid for all academic and official purposes. Students can access them using the school-issued access codes and their registered mobile numbers.
Time of India
04-08-2025
- Time of India
National Medical Commission rules allow complaints against doctors: Govt
The health ministry, in a response to a question on whether the National Medical Commission (NMC) was biased towards doctors, said the ethics regulation of 2002 provided for complaints against doctors, TOI reported. However, NMC's ethics section is rejecting all patient appeals claiming that the NMC Act prevails over the 2002 ethics regulation. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Product Management healthcare CXO Technology Project Management Data Science Management Public Policy Cybersecurity Operations Management others Data Analytics Digital Marketing MCA Design Thinking Data Science Healthcare Others MBA Artificial Intelligence Leadership Finance Skills you'll gain: Product Strategy & Roadmapping User-Centric Product Design Agile Product Development Market Analysis & Product Launch Duration: 24 Weeks Indian School of Business Professional Certificate in Product Management Starts on Jun 26, 2024 Get Details Skills you'll gain: Creating Effective Product Roadmap User Research & Translating it to Product Design Key Metrics via Product Analytics Hand-On Projects Using Cutting Edge Tools Duration: 12 Weeks Indian School of Business ISB Product Management Starts on May 14, 2024 Get Details The NMC Act says doctors can appeal against state medical council decisions. Keeping this as a reference, the ethics section has been dismissing all appeals filed by patients claiming that only doctors can file an appeal, even though it is against the law. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Indonesia: New Container Houses (Prices May Surprise You) Container House | Search ads Search Now Undo The NMC Act clearly states that 'the rules and regulations made under the Indian Medical Council Act , 1956, shall continue to be in force and operate till new standards or requirements are specified under this Act or the rules and regulations made thereunder'. This still stands as the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 has not been replaced. Live Events Clause 8.8 of the 2002 ethics regulation states, 'Any person aggrieved by the decision of the State Medical Council on any complaint against a delinquent physician, shall have the right to file an appeal to the MCI within a period of 60 days from the date of receipt of the order passed by the said Medical Council'. Yet, over 162 appeals of patients have been rejected by the NMC. In the reply. Minister of State for health Anupriya Patel stated that 'to ensure that the NMC functions in a transparent and fair manner', the central government appoints the chairperson and presidents of four autonomous boards as per the NMC Act 2019. This is, however, not transparent as even the minutes of the meetings of the NMC and its autonomous boards are not available in the public domain as used to be the case with the erstwhile Medical Council of India. Further, autonomous boards, including the posts of presidents are currently vacant as the government having failed to make appointments for over 10 months. A few minutes of the meetings, sought through RTI saw that most non-doctor ex-officio members hardly ever attend meetings and hence most decisions are taken by commission members, almost most of whom are doctors. About 20 of the 33-member commission are lawyers. 'I have complained to the health ministry and the law ministry by registered post about NMC rejecting patient appeals and hence I have proof. So, the health ministry cannot claim to have not received any complaints,' said Gokul Aneja, husband of a victim of alleged medical negligence, who appealed against the decision of the Punjab state medical council, only to have his appeal rejected twice.
