Cavan's Journey through Baylisascariasis

Cavan 2010

November 2006, my son was playing outside and being a young child at the age of 18 months and putting everything in his mouth. ingested an amount of dirt that had a parasite in it. This parasite entered his brain and caused brain damage and brain apnea, this was the brains natural defense to the parasite infection.

My son was hospitalized for two in a half months in the PICU. At this time his EEG showed little to no signs of brain activity. His prognosis was not good, the doctors did not have a clue what was going on or how to treat him. Two months into our stay, and after several hundred tests the results came back from a veterinarian hospital confirming that my son had Baylisascariasis infection.

For the next several months we watched him slowly progress from a child that did not move and had a blank stare on his face, to a child that could make eye contact and cry. this first cry was the best thing us as his parents could hear. Especially after the doctors could not tell us if he would ever regain his ability to walk, talk or even recognized who we were.

Since the infection Cavan has had several different types of seizures and he is mentally slower than a child his age. currently he is 6 years old but cognitively he is only about 10 months old. he can only show emotions by crying or smiling and laughing.

Cavan is now 6 years old, attends Kindergarten and has made some progress. He can now crawl across the floor and utilize his wheel chair for mobility. he has had several surgeries to correct his alkalies tended, which had stiffened from being non-responsive for so long.

Cavan suffers from seizures on a daily basis, he has myclonic seizures that have now changed to a full body twitching seizure that has become localized. he is on several different anti-convolution medication to control these seizures. yet just recently his seizures have changed and have become unmanageable by medications. we have spent several days in the hospital trying to figure out what the best course of action will be from this point on. we are attempting to try surgery to get him off all medications or at least come down on the amount of medications he is taking.

We are now going to be scheduled for a 5 day EEG, where he will come off all his medications and they will try to locate the exact cause of the seizure activity, then he will be reviewed for possible brain surgery to remove these effected parts of his brain. if this works he might have a better chance of recovering and leading a healthy happy life.

Cavan at Early Intervention (Pre-K) 2009

What is Baylisascariasis?

Baylisascariasis is an uncommon but well described infection in humans caused by ingestion of the eggs of the raccoon roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis (B. procyonis). B. procyonis is a common parasite of raccoons in the United States and Canada. A similar species, Baylisascaris columnaris, is found in skunks. 

B. procyonis has three primary life cycle options:

1. In most cases, the roundworm egg is ingested by a raccoon, passes into the intestine, hatches and matures into an adult worm. It then produces more eggs and passes them in raccoon fecal material. Raccoons are considered the reservoir host and maintain the infection in nature.
2. In some cases, the roundworm egg is ingested by a different kind of mammal (typically a rabbit or rodent) or bird. The egg hatches and releases a larva that migrates through the mammal or bird tissues but never develops into an adult worm. The larva may migrate to the brain of the mammal or bird, resulting in a debilitated state. This debilitated state may allow the animal to be easier to catch and kill. If a raccoon eats a mammal or bird containing the larva, the larva develops into a normal adult worm and begins passing eggs in the raccoon's fecal material.
3. In rare cases, the roundworm egg is ingested by a human (often a child) that is working or playing in an area contaminated by raccoon feces. B. procyonis eggs are not infective when they are initially passed in raccoon feces. It takes two to four weeks for the eggs to embryonate or become infective. Their thick shell makes the eggs highly resistant and the eggs may persist in the environment for years. The egg hatches in the human intestine and releases a larva that never develops into an adult worm, but migrates to different tissues in the body. Frequently the brain and eye are affected. The larva does not mature, but continues to grow and causes tissue damage. The condition of the person is often severe, depending on the extent of tissue damage and the tissue affected.

The disease in humans

• Infected humans may be asymptomatic.
• Human infections occur when embryonated eggs are accidentally ingested. Eggs are picked up from the soil (children playing in the dirt), water, hands, food or objects contaminated by raccoon feces.
• Larva that grow and migrate in the human can cause severe diseases such as:
  1. "Visceral larval migrans" - infection of internal organs, particularly the brain and spinal cord.
  2. "Ocular larval migrans" - infection of the eye, which can lead to blindness due to retinal involvement.
• No definitive diagnostic test is available.
• Serologic tests (blood tests for antibody to the parasite) are not routinely used.
• No effective cure for human disease is currently accepted.

(http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/animpest/v1227w.htm)