Boy With Brain Parasite Returns Home in Good Spirits

A 10-year-old boy whose brain was invaded by tapeworm larvae was back at home late Monday, smiling.

When Bernardino Gonzalez left Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, “he was happy, upbeat and more than just a little glad to go home,” said hospital spokesman Ron Yukelson.

Bernardino was airlifted to the hospital Friday night after suffering a seizure and collapsing in the shower at his home in Sylmar.

When he arrived at Children’s Hospital, his condition was judged critical and doctors were uncertain how soon he might recover. His parents, who rushed to be with him, said the boy didn’t move for several hours.

“He had been eating watermelon, that’s it,” said Felix Gonzalez, the boy’s father. “Then he got in the shower and passed out.”

The youngster left the hospital with his mother and two siblings at 5:15 p.m. Monday, arrived back home in Sylmar, then quickly climbed into his own bed and fell fast asleep, said his mother, Maria Luisa Timental.

The boy will continue to take a drug to ward off convulsions and doctors will monitor his condition, Yukelson said.

Doctors attributed his ailment, called “cysticerosis,” to the larvae of a pork tapeworm. It is generally caused by eating undercooked pork or beef, Yukelson said.

Dr. Robin Kallas, an attending physician in the emergency room, called the condition “extremely common” in Mexico and other developing countries.

While the incidence of brain infection caused by the worm is less common in this country, she said, “in Mexico, it’s the most common cause of seizures for those over age 5.”

Doctors couldn’t predict whether the boy will suffer from seizures in the future.