SYLMAR BOY WITH WORM INFECTION RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL.Byline: Associated Press A 10-year-old San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. boy who suffered a seizure after worm larvae Larvae, in Roman religion Larvae: see lemures. entered his brain was released from a Los Angeles hospital Monday evening after several days of receiving anti-convulsant drugs. ``He was smiling, he was upbeat, and more than a little happy to go home,'' said Ron Yukelson, a spokesman for Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. Yukelson identified the boy as Bernardino Gonzalez of Sylmar. The boy will continue taking medication to prevent further seizures, Yukelson said. The larvae in the boy's brain apparently was dead. The boy was found unconscious in the bathroom of his home Friday. Doctors determined he had a condition known as cysticercosis cysticercosis /cys·ti·cer·co·sis/ (sis?ti-ser-ko´sis) infection with cysticerci. In humans, infection with the larval forms of Taenia solium. cys·ti·cer·co·sis n. , which can be caused by eating undercooked meat. After ingestion ingestion /in·ges·tion/ (-chun) the taking of food, drugs, etc., into the body by mouth. in·ges·tion n. 1. The act of taking food and drink into the body by the mouth. 2. , tapeworm tapeworm, name for the parasitic flatworms forming the class Cestoda. All tapeworms spend the adult phase of their lives as parasites in the gut of a vertebrate animal (called the primary host). larvae in undercooked meat can develop and penetrate the intestinal wall, invading other tissues, including the brain. The boy was removed from a ventilator Saturday. Yukelson said questions about what the boy ate in the days before he was stricken were ``immaterial.'' ``It could have happened a year ago, six months ago,'' he said. ``He could have ingested this worm a year ago, and it could have been living in his intestines that entire period of time.'' Doctors had no plans to perform surgery on the boy's brain to remove the worm. Rather, the aim is to let the organism die, he said. |
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