{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,21]],"date-time":"2026-04-21T15:30:34Z","timestamp":1776785434610,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT.<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a common parasitic neuroinfectious disease caused by humans becoming intermediate hosts in the life cycle of the pig tapeworm, <jats:italic>Taenia solium<\/jats:italic>, after ingesting its eggs. This case series examines seven female patients with NCC who engaged in geophagy (soil consumption) and were evaluated at Centre M\u00e9dical Baraka in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, from January 2019 to December 2020. From a cohort of 176 patients with epilepsy evaluated during that period, 105 underwent brain computed tomography scans, and 36 were confirmed to have NCC. Among those with NCC, seven (19.4%) had a history of geophagy and were included in this case series. The majority of these patients had more than five brain lesions. Neuroimaging revealed colloidal lesions, third-stage lesions, and calcifications in six patients. All patients showed improvement after treatment with antiseizure medication alone or in combination with antiparasitic drugs. Geophagy, although not common, serves as a mode of contamination in which individuals ingest soil containing <jats:italic>Taenia<\/jats:italic> eggs, potentially leading to the development of NCC.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.24-0453","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,26]],"date-time":"2024-11-26T14:27:48Z","timestamp":1732631268000},"page":"327-330","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Exploring Geophagy as a Risk Factor for Neurocysticercosis: A Case Series from the Democratic Republic of the Congo"],"prefix":"10.4269","volume":"112","author":[{"given":"Olivier","family":"Mukuku","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Research, Institut Sup\u00e9rieur des Techniques M\u00e9dicales de Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sof\u00eda S.","family":"S\u00e1nchez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cysticercosis Unit, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Neurol\u00f3gicas, Lima, Peru;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marcellin","family":"Bugeme","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neuropsychiatric, University of Lubumbashi, Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo;"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hector H.","family":"Garcia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cysticercosis Unit, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Neurol\u00f3gicas, Lima, Peru;"},{"name":"Center for Global Health, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"2795","reference":[{"key":"b1","series-title":"Control of Neucysticercosis: Report of the Secretariat (No. A56\/10)","year":"2003"},{"key":"b2","series-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis","first-page":"e371","article-title":"Taenia solium cysticercosis hotspots surrounding tapeworm carriers: Clustering on human 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Faso","volume":"53","author":"Millogo","year":"2012"},{"key":"b12","series-title":"J Neurosci Neurol Disord","first-page":"63","article-title":"Epilepsy due to neurocysticercosis: Analysis of a hospital cohort","volume":"4","author":"Bugeme","year":"2020"},{"key":"b13","series-title":"Am J Trop Med Hyg","first-page":"1955","article-title":"Case report: Three cases of neurocysticercosis in Central Africa","volume":"103","author":"Mukuku","year":"2020"},{"key":"b14","series-title":"Curr Infect Dis Rep","first-page":"44","article-title":"Update on the diagnosis and management of neurocysticercosis","volume":"18","author":"Webb","year":"2016"},{"key":"b15","series-title":"Neurology","first-page":"177","article-title":"Proposed diagnostic criteria for neurocysticercosis","volume":"57","author":"Del Brutto","year":"2001"}],"container-title":["The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and 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