Hotpots are a favorite dining option during the winter, but people must ensure the meat is thoroughly cooked before they consume it. Recently, a man in China's Zhejiang Province began feeling dizzy, experiencing headaches, and vomiting white foam after eating a spicy hotpot. Doctors discovered at least 700 tapeworms in his brain, and determined this parasitic infection developed from eating undercooked hotpot meat.


Recently, a man in his 40s in China's Zhejiang Province decided to have a spicy hotpot for dinner after work. After the meal, he began feeling dizzy. He also had a headache. In the middle of the night, he began twitching and vomiting white foam. He sought medical treatment, and doctors discovered brain lesions resulting from the presence of at least 700 tapeworms inside the brain. They determined this parasitic infection likely resulted from eating undercooked hotpot meat.

The larvae of pork tapeworms will penetrate intestinal walls, and then bore into other organs in the body, as well as muscle and the central nervous system. It's possible that this is what occurred in this specific case.

Tapeworm larvae primarily live inside cows and pigs. They migrate around the body with blood. When people ingest undercooked beef or pork infected with tapeworms, the tapeworms survive in the small intestine, resulting in stomach pain, diarrhea, and other digestive tract symptoms. Larvae can pass through the intestines and end up in the eyes and brain, resulting in blurry vision and cramps. Serious cases could result in the loss of consciousness or even death.

The central nervous system is in the center of the body. Breathing, blood pressure, and the heartbeat are all part of it. If tapeworms end up where they shouldn't go, the resulting complications will be life-threatening.

The public is reminded to completely cook pork, mutton, and chicken meat before consumption. Thoroughly cooking beef will affect the texture, but epidemiologists still advise thoroughly cooking all meats to reduce the chances of parasitic infections.



天氣冷吃火鍋，小心病從口入！中國浙江有位40多歲男性，日前下班後去吃麻辣火鍋，結果出現頭暈、頭痛，半夜還會抽搐、口吐白沫等症狀，就醫檢查才發現大腦病變，至少有700多隻「絛蟲」在腦部，醫師研判，很可能是吃進未煮熟的火鍋肉片，才導致寄生蟲感染。

林口長庚感染醫學科醫師 黃景泰表示：「豬肉絛蟲的話呢，有時候就好像豬一樣的這種狀態，就是變成幼蟲會穿透腸壁，然後鑽到身體其他器官，包括肌肉包括中樞神經，這個案例呢，可能他就是這樣的狀態。」

醫師表示，「絛蟲」的蟲卵、大多寄生在牛或豬的體內孵化，幼蟲會隨著血液游走，當人類吃進這些未煮熟的牛肉或豬肉時，「絛蟲」就會存活在小腸，出現腹痛、腹瀉等腸胃道症狀，如果幼蟲穿過腸道，還可能寄生在眼睛、大腦，會讓視力變模糊、抽筋，嚴重者甚至會昏迷而死亡。

林口長庚感染醫學科醫師 黃景泰表示：「因為中樞神經是我們的，中間包含我們的生命中樞，呼吸、血壓、心跳，（絛蟲)有時候在不當的位置的話，引發的併發症，就會有生命的危險。」

醫師提醒民眾，豬肉、羊肉及雞肉一定要全熟後再吃，至於牛肉，全熟雖然可能影響口感，近來因有流行病學出現，建議所有肉類還是煮熟後再食用，較能降低感染寄生蟲的風險。