Eosinophilic meningitis is a rare type of meningitis that manifests itself after the consumption of meat from animals contaminated with the parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which infests the snail, slug, crab or African giant snail. But in addition, consumption of food contaminated with the secretion released by snails can also cause this disease.
After ingestion of this parasite or food contaminated with these secretions the person may present symptoms such as severe headache, nausea, vomiting and stiffness of the neck and in this case should go to the emergency room to be treated.
Treatment is usually done with pain relievers to relieve headaches and corticosteroids to treat inflammation of the tissues lining the central nervous system.
Main symptoms
The most common symptoms of eosinophilic meningitis include:
- Strong headache;
- Rigidity in the neck, pain and difficulty in moving the neck;
- Nausea and vomiting;
- Low fever;
- Tingling in the trunk, arms and legs;
- Mental confusion.
Faced with these symptoms, the person should immediately go to the hospital for an examination called lumbar puncture, which consists of removing a small amount of cerebrospinal fluid from the spinal cord. This test is able to identify if this liquid is contaminated, and if it is by which microorganism, what is fundamental to decide how the treatment will be done.
Learn more about how lumbar puncture is done.
How is the treatment done?
Treatment for eosinophilic meningitis should be done at hospital admission and usually with antiparasitic drugs, analgesics, to relieve headaches, and corticosteroids, to treat the inflammation of meningitis, which affects the membranes that surround the brain and the spinal cord, called meninges, and is also useful for lowering brain pressure.
If the pressure in the brain does not diminish with the remedies, your doctor may do several lumbar punctures to more effectively relieve the pressure.
When treatment is not done as soon as possible, the patient may be left with sequelae, such as loss of vision and hearing or a decrease in muscle strength, especially in the arms and legs. See the other possible sequels of meningitis.
What Causes Eosinophilic Meningitis
Eosinophilic meningitis is caused by parasites that are transmitted to humans as follows:
- The small larvae are housed in the intestines of rats, being eliminated through their feces;
- The snail feeds on the faeces of the rat, ingesting the parasite;
- When consuming contaminated snail or food contaminated with its secretions the parasite arrives in the bloodstream of the man and reaches his brain, causing meningitis.
In this way, it is possible to contract this meningitis when:
- They eat undercooked mollusks, such as snails, snails, or slugs that are contaminated with larvae;
- They ingest foods, such as poorly washed greens, vegetables or fruits that are contaminated with the secretions released by snails and slugs to move;
- They eat freshwater shrimp, crabs and frogs that fed on infected mollusks.
After the person ingest the larvae, they go through the bloodstream to the brain, causing this meningitis.
How to protect yourself
To protect and not be contaminated with the parasite that causes eosinophilic meningitis, it is important not to consume animals that are contaminated, but since it is not possible to identify if an animal is contaminated, only by its appearance, it is not recommended to eat this type of animal.
In addition, to avoid this disease one should wash very well all the vegetables and fruits that may be contaminated with the secretions left by the slugs, for example.
Snails usually appear in times of rain, do not have natural predators and reproduce very quickly, being easily found in gardens and backyards even in large cities. Therefore, to eliminate the slugs and snails it is recommended to place them in a plastic bag completely closed, breaking its shell. The animal is not able to survive more than 2 days locked inside a plastic bag where it can not drink water and feed itself. It is not recommended to put salt on top of them because this will cause their dehydration, releasing intense secretion, which can contaminate the environment around them.
