How dangerous is the tapeworm infection?

Pig tapeworm, also known as pig flukes, rice pigs are distributed in many parts of the world. In Vietnam, the disease occurs in all regions and provinces. According to data reported through studies, through treatment facilities to date, there are at least 55 provinces and cities, where there are cases of infection with pigs.

Depending on the eating or swallowing of eggs, the larval cysts of tapeworm pigs manifest in different diseases.

If people eat eggs tapeworm pigs infected in food, after eating or swallowing eggs, eggs will enter the stomach, hatching larvae. To the small intestine, the larvae penetrate the wall of the digestive tract into the blood and move to the parasites in the striated muscles, brain, eyes .

In case the patient has a flukes that mature in the intestine, when the old flukes are burned, they may be refluxed into the stomach due to the reaction of intestinal motility, similar to eating new flukes. Therefore the number of larvae will be very large.

Depending on the parasitic location of the parasite, there are different manifestations.

The larvae follow the blood to the muscles, eyes or brain of the person and will become cystic. Depending on the parasitic location of the parasite, there are different manifestations.

If the follicle is located in the muscle, there will be some small tumors, about 1-2cm in size or with pea seeds, peanuts, easy to move, not itch, no pain.

If the cyst is in the brain, the patient may have seizures, paralysis of hands, legs or hemiplegia, lisp, memory disorders or severe headaches. Flukes in the eye can cause glaucoma, vision loss or blindness.

If the patient eats the raw pork containing the follicles (rice pig), when the stomach reaches the parasite the larvae will escape the capsule and stick to the small intestine and develop into adult tapeworms.

Adult tapeworms produce thousands of new flukes, each with about 50,000 eggs, making the length of adult flukes up to 2-12 m, parasites in the small intestine for many years.

Adult tapeworm disease usually does not show obvious symptoms , mainly causing abdominal pain, mild gastrointestinal disorders.

The patient often has uncomfortable and uneasy feelings. There are self-burning flukes according to the excrement, burning flukes are small, flattened, ivory sections such as fiber, flat head. Some cases have been found to have fluke eggs in the stool.

Treatment of tapeworm infection and tapeworm larvae, in principle, must be diagnosed early and timely intervened immediately after detection of flukes. Medicines for treating diseases and larvae of tapeworm pigs are praziquantel, niclosamide and albendazole.

In order to prevent tapeworm infection and tapeworm larvae, BSs advise people not to eat raw foods such as pork, nem and pork (re-creating risk of adult tapeworm infection); raw vegetables (risk of swine fluke larvae).

Need to manage fresh manure, strictly manage hygienic standards of slaughterhouses. Using hygienic toilets, do not raise pigs freely.