
Intestinal Taeniasis
Correspondence Address :
Dr. Renu Mathew, Saveetha Medical College &
Hospital, Saveetha University, Saveetha Nagar,
Thandalam, Chennai – 602 105, Tamilnadu, India,
Mobile no: 9841101062 / Land line: 044-64580468,
Fax: 044-26811999, Email:
renumathews@yahoo.com
A sixteen year old female presented with chronic abdominal pain and recurrent passage of worms in the stool for the past three years.
She was a regular beef eater. Her physical examination, as well her routine blood investigations were unremarkable. Her stool
examination showed a greyish white segment of size 2 x1.5x0.5cm, which was moving.(Table/Fig 1) Microscopic examination of her
stool showed the eggs of Tape worm.(Table/Fig 2) From the acid fast staining of the eggs and the characteristics of the
segments, the tapeworm was identified as Taenia saginata. She was treated with a single dose of 10 mg/kg of Praziquantel. She wasasymptomatic after 6 weeks of follow up.Taenia saginata which is known as the beef tape worm is transmitted to human beings in
the form of infectious larval cysts which are found in the meat of cattle, which serves as the parasite’s usual intermediate host.(1) The consumption of “measly” (cyst infected) uncooked or under cooked beef is the usual means of transmission. The infection due to T.saginata is common in the cattle breeding areas of the world. In the definitive human host, adult T.saginata tape worms are large (10 meters in length) and can contain more than 1000 proglottids, each of which are capable of
producing thousands of eggs. Symptoms are absent in most of the patients. Mild abdominal cramps and malaise may be there. The
proglottids of T.saginata are motile and may occasionally migrate out of the anus. The patients may report about seeing moving
segments in the faeces.(2) The diagnosis can be established by the recovery of the parasite’s proglottids.(1) T.solium and T.saginata can be differentiated by checking for the characteristic scolex, the
number of uterine branches, the motility of the segment outside the host and by the acid fast staining of the eggs. If only eggs are found in the stool, it is important to note that T.saginata
eggs are indistinguishable from those of T.solium. With the T. solium tape worms, there is potential for autoinfection with
cysticercosis; therefore, if any Taenia spp. If the eggs are detected, then treatment should be given without delay for further speciation.The effective oral treatment for Taenia spp. is oral praziquantel or niclosamide.(2)
We acknowledge Dr.Shameem Banu,Professor and Head of Microbiology for the constant encouragement and support rendered by her.
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