How a worm can get into a person’s brain

Parasites that can infect us may not take over our bodies and minds like those in ‘Parasyte: The Grey’ but they are not so alien after all. —Netflix

Independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s disclosure that a doctor apparently found a dead worm in his brain has sparked questions about what brain parasites are, the damage they can cause and how, exactly, they get there.

BRAIN parasites encompass far more than worms. There are legions of organisms that can affect the brain, says University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s professor of biological sciences Scott Gardner, who specialises in parasites.