Rare brain worms spread by unsanitary cooks

[VegasWolf]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA011207.KENS.tapeworm.308d8650.html

<snip>

There was a time when Renaldo Ramirez, of Houston, didn't like to cook.

The 50-year-old ate most of his meals at mobile kitchens until he found out food contaminated with tapeworm eggs almost killed him.

"He's scared now. He's scared of any food from outside," Ramirez said through his sister who interpreted for him.

Ramirez is a tile worker who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador 20 years ago.

</snip>

Maybe Brain worms explain Bush's "new" Iraq strategy!

[jgraz]

1. Hey, that was the pilot for "House"

Some teacher got a brain tapeworm from bad lunchmeat.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Tape worms are nasty.

In the 19th century, "traveling salesmen" (peddlers) used to hawk weight reduction "pills". They contained tape worm eggs which, when ingested, would hatch and feed off your guts until you died (of malnutrition and "weight loss" because of the malnutrition as the worms got your food before your body did).

[Warpy]

3. There is undoubtedly a food prep worker somewhere

in the mix who doesn't wash his/her hands after s/he shits. Mobile food, AKA roach coaches, are usually good prole food made under sanitary conditions. The Houston public health department needs to look at the city's fleet, though.

Nasty disease.

[DemBones DemBones]

13. Yep, which is also how E.coli is spread.

Some people get "stomach flu" all the time, but it's really food poisoning because they're not careful about hygiene, or because they eat at places that employ people who aren't careful about hygiene.

[deadmessengers]

4. I've had a tapeworm

It was one of the nastiest, most fucked up experiences I've had in my life. (shudder)

[Warpy]

6. I knew a parasitologist one time

who'd read a paper about how tapeworm confers a partial immunity to the intestinal diseases one picks up in third world countries, probably because it eats the pathogen along with everything else. He had an upcoming fellowship in India, and he infected himself with gastric tapeworm before he left, carrying the proper medication to kill the thing if he ran into trouble.

He spent 3 months in India, no GI problems from the food, and only a moderate weight loss, killed the worm on the way home.

Most folks aren't that lucky. They don't know when they're infected and by the time they're diagnosed, that thing is HUGE and they're severely malnourished.

Personally, I think he was nuts. One of my cats hacked up a tapeworm and it was the grossest thing I've ever seen in my life!

[Irreverend IX]

21. Parasites can also "cure" athsma and allergies.

Those problems arise from overactive immune systems in an environment cleaner than that which was present for most of human history. If the body's immune system is left without an enemy to fight in the form of bacteria and parasites, the body will attack itself. The solution is to introduce parasites into the body. Tapeworms are unsuitable because they can kill the host, but hookworms are a good option. Unfortunately, they can only be found in the wilds of Africa and medical science frowns on the idea of using parasites. More at this link:

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2006/4/30/91945/8971

[kestrel91316]

28. A porcine (pig) roundworm was used in one study to put

Crohn's Disease victims into TOTAL but temporary remission.

The parasite redirected the immune system against a REAL enemy.

[xchrom]

5. tapeworms = conservatives.

that's what i call them anyway.

[aggiesal]

12. LOL. That's funny. n/t

[Parche]

7. worms

Sounds like Bush has ingested them................"And the worms ate into his brain..."

At least that is what Pink Floyd said......

[AlienGirl]

8. "Have you the brain worms?!"

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. lol

[Viva_La_Revolution]

15. ...

:spray:

[bananas]

10. "Ramirez was the fourth patient Mohanty treated within a few months"

That's not good.
There are probably more who don't know it yet.

[VegasWolf]

11. The brain worms should be cooked at least medium rare. nt

[Skittles]

24. you're a sick bastid, VegasWolf

:thumbsup:

[Uncle Joe]

30. I believe teriyaki sauce can make anything taste good, just marinate

overnight in the fridge for a tasty and satisfying treat.

[sakabatou]

14. Great...

[Viva_La_Revolution]

16. be very afraid!!

they're everywhere! BRAIN WORMS!!!

:rofl:




I'm too worried about the terrahrists to have time to worry about BRAIN WORMS!


:P

[SoCalDem]

20. They be eatin' the Brainzzzzzzz.. They are Zombie worms :)

[VegasWolf]

17. Just goes to show, NEVER eat unsanitary cooks! nt

[NoodleyAppendage]

18. Neurocystercercosis. Most common source of seizure disorder in 3rd world countries.

Very prevalent in South & Central America. Larvae form in brain, then die off forming cystic irritants of brain tissue resulting, most often, in seizures. Nasty stuff.

[WritersBlock]

19. Gross. But not surprising.

So I went into the restroom at work yesterday. One of the three stalls was already occupied. I had an eyelash in my eye, so I took a few minutes by the sink & mirror, then I went into another stall.

All this time, I could hear the occupant of the other stall moving around, rustling paper, etc. I assume she was changing a "sanitary product."

Then I heard a flush, followed by the stall door opening.

Then I *immediately* heard the restroom door open & close as she left without washing.

My first thought was, great. So even after I wash my hands, the only way out of here is to use the same door handle she just used, because the door opens to the inside!

This has got to be the most unhygenic place I've ever worked. People walk around coughing all the time, making little or no attempt to cover their mouths (and it's a call center, so they're walking right past workstations and coughing down onto colleagues, not to mention keyboards & phones).

I get really paranoid around there - even to the point of pulling my hand back into my coat sleeve and using it as a glove so I don't have to touch the handrail on the stairway. I have always made it a habit to immediately use anti-bacterial hand-gel when I get back to my desk after going anywhere in that building that involves touching door handles, etc., and after yesterday, I'm re-doubling those efforts.

[harpboy_ak]

22. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Your body will never build up resistance to these pathogens if you continue your obsessive cleaning.

A previous post in this thread explains why.

You really do NOT want to live in a sterile bubble.

That said, I constantly wash my hands when cooking, especially if I have just contacted raw meat or fish, or I've been washing veggies that have soil on them.

[WritersBlock]

23. I don't think it's obsessive

not to want to touch a door handle that's been used by someone who's just gone to the toilet without washing their hands.

I've seen people picking their noses at their desks, for krissakes.

I'll continue to use my handgel, thanks. ;)

[kestrel91316]

29. The most important thing to do is avoid putting your own hands

in or near your mouth/nose to avoid ingesting germs. And then to wash those hands real good before preparing food or eating.

You aren't going to get sick just because bad germs are on your hands. Your hand skin keeps them from entering you there.

[nodehopper]

26. I thought that way for a long time as well

I would make a conscious effort not to be obsessively hygienic (i.e. washing my hands every time I came home from the street or before every single meal), thinking that my body would adapt to more pathogens that way. During that period of my life I used to get colds and sicknesses all the time. Eventually I started washing my hands "obsessively" (after every time I handle money, before every single meal, any time I come home from outside), and I barely ever get sick anymore. This past year I had a cold in February, and then another one at the end of December, and that is it. Before, I would have gotten one a month, for sure.

[Warpy]

25. You sound like a student in nursing or medical school

who has just survived the first survey course in microbiology. Anyone in that situation is afraid to touch ANYTHING, ANYWHERE.

Fortunately, it wears off.

If you're paranoid about pathogens on surfaces in public places, and that's probably one of the better phobias to suffer from in flu season, just train yourself to scratch your face with the back of your wrist and wash your hands before you handle food.

Hand-mouth contamination with the various viruses generally comes from surfaces you've touched with your fingers. Keep those puppies away from eyes, mouth, and nose.

And for the record, menstrual fluid is generally sterile except for the normal vaginal flora that do NOT cause disease. Urine is sterile.

That doesn't mean people should exit washrooms without washing. Hands that smell like either fluid are just gross.

[kestrel91316]

31. LOL, my sister the pharmacist took only one micro course in

college, sadly, and has never gotten over her germ phobia, though it is not as bad as it was.

I got a degree in micro before the DVM so I understand common germs far to well to be afraid of them, lol.

Bacteria are our friends!!!!

[grasswire]

33. I never touch those doors

And I even avoid touching the water faucet handle after washing. I just grab a paper towel or a kleenex from my pocket to turn open the stall door, turn off the water faucet, exit the bathroom door, etc. I've seen too many people come and go without handwashing.

I wash hands as soon as I get home, too. And I'm rarely sick.

[Wiley50]

27. Tapeworm For Sale. Nice Pet

Goes Where Yo Go
Eats What You Eat

[Hoping4Change]

32. A huge number of people can't buy enough products to disinfect

their homes, an equally huge number of people totally disregard the reality of germs. What's up with that?

:crazy:

[133724]

34. pic of a taape worm.....

[undergroundpanther]

35. You don't have to be obnoxiously clean

I grew up around animals..I would sit inside a chicken coop with my rabbits, chickens, my cat,doves..and sing to them, I would curl up with animals. I played in the woods and fields in the dirt climbing trees. I didn't always wash my hands, I ate veggies out of the garden without washing them in anti bacterial anything, and now I have no allergies really. I react to elm trees, roach turds, lactose intolerant, but No allergies that torment me really like some people have.
I think it's good to be exposed to the environment so your body can recognize and have a real enemy to fight instead of attacking itself.