Neurocysticercosis in a Child with No History of Travel Outside the Continental United States

Abstract

We present a case of neurocysticercosis in a 16-month-old girl who had no history of travel outside the continental United States. Immunoblot assays of serum and CSF were both reactive. The patient's father was found to be shedding Taenia ova in his stools, a finding that suggested direct fecal-oral transmission between himself and the patient. Given the possibility of this mode of transmission, the diagnosis of CNS cysticercosis should be considered for patients with compatible clinical presentations even if they do not have obvious risk factors such as travel to an area endemic for the parasite.