Lowri Denman Seeks £25,000 for 12-Part Podcast on 38 Brain Parasites

Q: A vegetarian contracted 38 brain parasites from a trip. What simple mistake led to her harrowing multi-year ordeal?

She most likely became infected by accidentally swallowing microscopic pork tapeworm eggs in contaminated food or water during her trip to India, despite being vegetarian. Doctors say Lowri Denman did not need to eat pork to develop neurocysticercosis. The disease occurs when a person ingests *Taenia solium* eggs, usually through poor sanitation or food handled by someone carrying the tapeworm. Those eggs can then hatch, spread through the body and form cysts in the brain. In practical terms, the “simple mistake” was likely eating or drinking something contaminated by fecal matter containing the eggs, such as unwashed produce, unsafe water or food prepared with poor hand hygiene. That is different from the better-known route of getting an adult tapeworm from undercooked pork. Her case underlines a key medical point: vegetarians are not protected from neurocysticercosis if food or water is contaminated. Experts say prevention depends on basic hygiene, especially handwashing, safe food preparation, clean water and proper sanitation.

3 articles · Updated · The Independent · Jul 1

12-part podcast project "38 Parasites" is Lowri Denman’s bid to turn a decade-long illness into a resource for others after years of seizures, psychosis and repeated flare-ups from neurocysticercosis.
38 parasitic cysts were found in her brain after a 2007 India trip; she later passed a metre-long tapeworm, suffered a grand mal seizure in 2011 and spent years cycling through anti-worm drugs, steroids and epilepsy treatment.
2015 brought a major setback when swelling kept returning in different parts of her brain, forcing her to give up work, move home and eventually spend three months in a neuropsychiatric ward in 2016.
10 years seizure-free and now in good health, Denman says the podcast will mix her story with interviews from tropical disease and neurology experts because she found little accessible information during her recovery.
£25,000 is being raised through Crowdfunder with producer Nicola Brown; the project was already shortlisted for the 2025 Whickers Podcast Pitch Award.