The strangest medical cases of 2024

It’s almost the end of 2024, and that can only mean one thing: another deep dive into the weirdest medical cases that made us gasp, cringe, and groan in awe this year.

Case studies are an important part of medicine because they can sometimes be the first clue to a new discovery. But they are also an endless reminder that the human body can get weird or have weird things happen to it in all sorts of ways. Here are some of the bizarre medical highlights published in scientific journals or otherwise making news in 2024.

The most vaccinated person in the world

In March, scientists in Germany published study showing a man who claimed to have received over 200 covid-19 vaccinations over two years. German authorities claimed the man initially continued to vaccinate to secure vaccination cards that could then be sold to others, although they ultimately declined to press charges of fraud. By the time the researchers contacted him, however, he may have actually enjoyed getting his shots—he even chose to receive two more vaccinations on his own while being studied.

The researchers found no signs that the man was harmed in any way by his mass vaccinations, and even found some evidence that his immune system was better protected against the coronavirus than average. Perhaps the most compelling evidence is that the man had no reported history of covid-19 infection – a rarity in today’s world. Yet, as the researchers astutely point out: you don’t need more than 200 shots to get the most out of your covid-19 vaccination. Just a few will do.

You’re losing your nerve

Two separate cases of people literally crashing have made waves this year.

c one case published this May, a 63-year-old man sneezed and coughed up his bowels through a recent surgical site involving his abdomen. The man’s breakfast and shirt were ruined, but paramedics were able to get him safely to hospital and he made an uneventful recovery. The another case it was originally published in September 2022, but only became available online in January 2024. It involves a 52-year-old woman whose covid-induced cough caused her intestines to leak out of an old hernia repair surgery site. She was hospitalized, but her intestines were also successfully returned.

Abdominal surgeries are known to be a risk factor for evisceration, but they remain rare. Still, I’ll probably panic a little for the foreseeable future every time I feel myself sneeze.

Hairy situation

Just in case you’re wondering, hairballs aren’t just a problem for cats.

In July, surgeons from Ecuador reported pulling a two-pound ball of hair out of a young woman’s stomach. Doctors in Massachusetts reported treating their own hair ball case last November involving a 16-year-old girl who had weeks of worsening stomach pain and other gastrointestinal symptoms.

These cases are examples of Rapunzel syndrome, a rare medical condition in which a mass of ingested hair grows large enough to obstruct the stomach and potentially the small intestine. Rapunzel syndrome can be life-threatening, although both cases were caught in time before this happened. It is most often caused by a psychological compulsion to pull and eat one’s own hair.

The three

In October, doctors in Great Britain reported a medical miracle that doubles as a great bar story: a man with not one, not two, but three penises. Perhaps the most amazing detail about this case is that the man himself may never have known about his unique anatomy. The man’s extra genitalia were inside his body, and his external penis appeared and functioned normally. Scientists discovered his condition only after his body was donated to science for post-mortem examination. This is the second recorded case of someone with three penises – a condition called triphalia – and the first found in an adult male.

The hairy menace

As a cat parent myself, I can attest to the many benefits of cat ownership. But sometimes these cats can cause bouts of medical distress.

Last May, for example, doctors in Portugal detailed how a little girl developed a rare bone infection from a young kitten her family took in. Earlier this February, Oregon health officials reported that a 50-year-old woman developed a rare case of the plague, possibly picked up by her recently sick cat. In both cases, the patients appeared to make full recoveries, but unfortunately, the Oregon woman’s cat died from the infection.

Although these cases are stranger than most, they are an important reminder that cats are still animals and can be potential vectors of infectious diseases. If a cat bites and scratches you, you should always immediately wash the wound with soap and water for five minutes (do not rub), clean it with an antiseptic, and seek medical attention if you notice signs of infection. In the case of plague and some other germs, both cats and the fleas they carry can potentially spread them, so flea prevention is also important.

Cerebral migraines

This is the most possible story about a person in Florida: In March, doctors in the state reported on a man whose months of severe and frequent headaches were caused by a parasitic brain invader: the pig tapeworm (Tape soles).

The condition is officially known as neurocysticercosis and is caused by tapeworm cysts. These cysts may not mature into full-fledged adults, but will migrate to various parts of the body, including the brain. Their presence in the brain can sometimes trigger a harmful immune response that causes a wide range of neurological symptoms, such as seizures and migraines. In this particular case, the man may have caught a typical tapeworm infection from eating undercooked bacon, only to re-infect himself with cysts from improperly washing his hands after going to the bathroom. The man was treated with steroids and anti-parasitic drugs, which helped reduce his symptoms. others well-known brainworm survivors are also flourishing.

Toilet problem

Some stories start out bad and somehow get worse. In January, doctors in Canada described a man in his 70s, bitten by a rat that got into his toilet bowl. The man subsequently developed a life-threatening infection from the bite, which sent him to the intensive care unit. The rat gave the human the bacterial disease leptospirosis, which makes the case all the more strange because these bacteria are usually found in rat urine, not saliva. As far as the doctors can tell, the rat may have first contaminated its own mouth with bacteria-soaked urine before biting the human—a true insult-to-injury scenario if ever I heard one. Fortunately, the man was successfully treated with antibiotics, but who knows if he will ever be able to use a toilet again without a sense of lurking dread.

Margarita burns

Here’s one reason to limit your alcohol consumption during the day. In December, the doctors in detail a strange case of phytophotodermatitis – aka “lime disease” aka “margarita burn”. The man developed nasty rashes and blisters on his hands one day after squeezing lime juice by hand and spending the day outside watching football. Phytophotodermatitis is caused by exposure to a class of chemicals commonly found in plants and fruits known as furanocoumarins, followed by exposure to ultraviolet A radiation. Furocoumarins are absorbed into the skin and sensitize it to UVA light, causing an inflammatory reaction that destroys skin cells.

Unfortunately, no existing treatment can speed recovery from Lyme disease (not to be confused with Lyme disease)—victims simply have to wait days or even weeks for the condition to clear up on its own. The man was given a topical steroid cream and moisturizer to relieve the symptoms, and his hands eventually returned to normal.

The Wall of the Weird

Honestly, I wish I could detail all the weird medical cases that happened this year, but we all have families to go back to. So here’s a short ode to some honorable mentions.

This is the man he saw world in pink after orgasm; the woman who went blind (temporarily, thankfully) from using hair dye; on discovery an autoimmune disorder that prevents vitamin B from reaching your brain; the two men who caught a fatal fungal infection from bat guano that they used or planned to use as fertilizer for their home cannabis; the woman who caught parasitic pneumonia from eating venison; and the family gathering where people are caught parasitic worms from tainted bear meat (maybe people should just stay away from game meat in general?).

The Eel’s Great Escape

Few cases have haunted us at Gizmodo like this one.

In July, doctors in Vietnam reported pulling a two-foot (61-centimetre) eel out of a man’s gut after shoving it up his ass – but not before the eel had started chewing on his guts.

The man visited the emergency department with severe abdominal pain. Once there, he told doctors that he voluntarily inserted an eel into his anus, although he declined to say exactly why (as is often the case in these cases, but it was probably sex-related). He made matters worse by putting a lemon in there, ostensibly to keep the eel where it was. However, the slippery passenger was uncooperative. While the doctors were operating on the man, the eel had reached his abdominal cavity, gnawing through his intestines. The man survived his ill-advised experiment, but not without losing part of his colon.

Remarkably, this actually was second eel case reported by doctors in Vietnam this year, although the other case involved a shorter eel, measuring 12 inches (30.5 cm).

Hopefully nothing in 2025. won’t come close to the baffling weirdness of these two incidents. Eh, who am I kidding: the weirder the better.