Felicia Henderson

TAPEWORM

BACKGROUND

• Tapeworms are flat segmented worms that live in the intestines of some animals. Animals can become infected with these parasites when grazing in pastures or drinking contaminated water

Tapeworm Causes

• Six types of tapeworms are known to infect people. They are usually identified by the animals they come from -- for example Taenia saginata from beef, Taenia solium from pork, and Diphyllobothrium latum from fish.

• Tapeworms have a three-stage lifecycle: egg; an immature stage called a larva; and an adult stage at which the worm can produce more eggs. Because larvae can get into the muscles of their hosts, infection can occur when you eat raw or undercooked meat from an infected animal.

• It is also possible to contract pork tapeworms from foods prepared by an infected person. Because tapeworm eggs are passed with bowel movements, a person who doesn't wash hands well after wiping and then prepares food can contaminate the food.

HISTORY

• Tapeworms are among the most disgusting but intriguing parasites of humans and other animals. They occur worldwide, causing malnutrition, sickness, and occasionally the death of their hosts. Yet, despite their economic significance, little has been known about how and when these parasites first attacked humans.

• After a new analysis of the tapeworm tapeworm, name for the parasitic flatworms forming the class Cestoda. All tapeworms spend the adult phase of their lives as parasites in the gut of a vertebrate animal (called the primary host). family tree, however, Hoberg and his colleagues push the wormy leap to people much further back in history. The closest relatives of our tapeworms spend their early stages in grazing animals and their adulthood in disparate African carnivores, the researchers say. Therefore, the team suggests, human ancestors first picked up tapeworms when they started eating more of the same worm-bearing meat as big cats and hyenas did. 

WHERE IT FIRST OCCURRED

• It is believed that tapeworms first occurred in the Cattle in Africa

WHAT TYPE OF PARASITE

• Common type of parasitic flatworm, has no digestive tract at all... instead, they live inside the intestines of their hosts and feed by latching onto the intestinal wall with hooks and/or suckers and absorbing the food that passes by- food that has already been broken down by the host's digestive enzymes

YEAR IT STARTED

• Ten thousand years ago

IS IT AN EMERGING DISEASE

• Nope

HOW ITS TRANSMITTED

• Tapeworm eggs are generally ingested through food, water or soil contaminated with human or animal (host) feces. 

SYMPTOMS• Nausea

• Weakness

• Diarrhea

• Abdominal pain

• Hunger or loss of appetite

• Fatigue

• Weight loss

• Vitamin and mineral deficiencies

• However, often having tapeworms does not cause symptoms. The only sign of tapeworm infection may be segments of the worms, possibly moving, in a bowel movement.

• In rare cases, tapeworms can lead to serious complications, including blocking the intestine. If pork tapeworm eggs are accidentally swallowed, they can migrate to other parts of the body and cause damage to the liver, eyes, heart, and brain. These infections can be life-threatening.

MORBIDITY RATE

• About 50,000 die annualy

TREATMENT

• The type and length of treatment may depend on the type of tapeworm you have. Tapeworms are usually treated with a medicine taken by mouth. The most commonly used medicine for tapeworms is praziquantel.

• These medications kill the tapeworms. The dead tapeworms then dissolve or pass from your body with bowel movements. If worms are large, you may have cramping when they pass. Your doctor will recheck stool samples at one and three months after you finish treatment. When tapeworms are confined to the intestines, appropriate treatment gets rid of them in more than 95% of people.

AGE IT AFFECTS• Ages ranged from 14 to 86 years; the greatest number of cases

was in persons, aged 15-34 years (Figure 19). Fewer cases occur in children because of the latency between infection and development of clinical symptoms leading to diagnosis. Most acute infections are asymptomatic; symptoms develop months or years later due to the inflammatory response or space-occupying lesions in the central nervous system.

MAP

STORY

• http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/01/experience-tapeworm-brain

• http://www.dnatube.com/video/9834/Infection-by-a-Brain-Worm

EPIDEMIC OR PANDEMIC

• Epidemic

SOURCES

• http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/may01/worms0501.htm

• http://parasitology.com/worms/

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapeworm_infection

• http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/tapeworms-in-humans