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Brain worms like the one RFK Jr. had are real and more common than you might think, doctor explains
Brain worms, like the one Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign said he contracted more than a decade ago, are real — and the infections are more common in certain parts of the world than you might think.
On “CBS Mornings” Thursday, CBS News medical contributor Dr. Céline Gounder confirmed there are parasitic infections you can get in your brain. Tapeworm infections of the brain, or neurocysticercosis, can be contracted from consuming undercooked, infected pork or drinking contaminated water.
“Usually this happens in countries where you have poor sanitation, unclean water,” she said, adding it is “one of the most common causes of seizure around the world where you don’t have good water and sanitation.”
Kennedy campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear said in a statement to CBS News that the independent running for president contracted the parasite after traveling “extensively in Africa, South America and Asia as his work as an environmental advocate.”
How do you get brain worms?
When people ingest microscopic tapeworm eggs, they hatch and become larvae that can infest various organs including the brain, muscles, liver and other tissues.
“The way this typically would happen is you have the parasite eggs in feces and then you’re having food or water — your hands are contaminated with that — and that’s how you end up with that,” Gounder said.
Kennedy said in a 2012 deposition that a parasitic worm “ate a portion” of his brain and may have caused cognitive issues, according to a New York Times report. But these parasites don’t “eat to your brain,” Gounder said.
“The most likely one that he would have is a pork tapeworm-related cyst, and those generally will stay in place. They might grow, cause inflammation or swelling, and that’s how you get symptoms — but they’re not eating your brain,” she said.
Brain worm symptoms
Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, headaches and seizures, Gounder said, although many people who suffer from this type of infection may not see symptoms.
Treatment for tapeworm infection typically involves medications such as anti-parasitic drugs to kill the worms. In some cases, if the worm dies, the body’s immune system may clear the dead worm from the brain tissue without requiring surgery, unless complications arise. Kennedy told the Times that no treatment was necessary for his parasitic condition.
Gounder said usually these parasites get “walled off by your immune system and they get calcified.”
“So for most people, they probably don’t even know they have this,” she said. “It’s only when they develop symptoms like seizures or headaches. Or maybe incidentally, it’s picked up on a scan that you’re having for some other reason.”
-Allison Novelo contributed reporting.
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Sen. Mark Kelly says feds need to do a “better job” of letting Americans know “there’s a huge amount of misinformation” on election
Washington — Sen. Mark Kelly said Sunday that the federal government needs to do its part to inform Americans of the vast swath of election misinformation that’s being consumed on social media platforms like X, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.
“It’s up to us, the people who serve in Congress and in the White House to get the information out there, that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation in this election, and it’s not going to stop on Nov. 5,” Kelly said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Kelly, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he’s seen these misinformation operations target not only his state of Arizona, but also other battleground states.
“There is a very reasonable chance I would put it in the 20 to 30% range, that the content you are seeing, the comments you are seeing, are coming from one of those three countries: Russia, Iran, China,” Kelly said.
CBS News
In a committee hearing last month on foreign threats to the 2024 election, Kelly presented screenshots of Russian-made web pages showing fabricated headlines designed to look like Fox News and The Washington Post, targeted at voters in battleground states.
“So my constituents in Arizona and others — they seek to influence the outcome of these elections, and that is absolutely beyond the pale,” Kelly said at the Sept. 18 hearing. “We’ve got to do something about it.”
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump each have the support of 49% of Arizona voters, according to CBS News’ battleground tracker as of Sept. 30.
In another battleground state, Pennsylvania, Trump returned Saturday to hold a rally in Butler three months after an attempted assassination on him. He was joined by members of his own party and billionaire Elon Musk, who said Trump was the only way to preserve democracy and warned of a last election if he does not win in November.
Speaking to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Kelly called the social media mogul a hypocrite.
“He’s standing next to the guy that tried to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, saying that this is somehow going to be the last election and they’re going to take away your vote,” Kelly said. “And you know, it just doesn’t pass the logic test.”
At the White House press briefing on Friday, President Biden – speaking from the podium for the first time since taking office – said he’s confident of a free and fair election but alluded to the 2021 insurrection at the Capitol in his concerns on whether it will be a peaceful transfer of power.
“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn’t like the outcome of the election were very dangerous,” Mr. Biden said. “If you notice, I noticed that the vice-presidential Republican candidate did not say he’d accept the outcome of the election, and they haven’t even accepted the outcome of the last election.”
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