Taeniasis

Prevention is by properly cooking meat.[1] Treatment is generally with praziquantel, though niclosamide may also be used.^[1] Together with cysticercosis, infections affect about 50 million people globally.^[5] The disease is most common in the developing world.^[1] In the United States less than 1,000 cases occur a year.^[1]

Signs and symptoms

Taeniasis generally has few or no symptoms.^[6] It takes about 8 weeks from infection for adult worms to form and can last for years without treatment.^[6]

Infection may be suspected when a portion of the worm is passed in the stool.^[4] It is not generally fatal.^[7][8][9]

Pork tapeworm

Infection in the intestines by the adult T. solium worms is normally asymptomatic. Heavy infection can result in

Transmission

Taeniasis is contracted after eating undercooked pork or beef that contain the

Cysticercosis occurs when contaminated food, water, or soil that contain T. solium eggs is eaten.[14]^[15]

Diagnosis

Prevention efforts include properly cooking meat, treating active cases in humans, vaccinating and treating pigs against the disease, stricter meat-inspection standards, health education, improved sanitation, and improved pig raising practices.^[1][6]

Preventing human faeces from contaminating pig feeds also plays a role. Infection can be prevented with proper disposal of human faeces around pigs, cooking meat thoroughly and/or freezing the meat at −10 °C for 5 days. For human cysticercosis, contaminated hands are the primary cause, and especially concerning among food handlers.^[7]

Proper cooking of meat is an effective prevention. For example, cooking (56 °C for 5 minutes) of beef

Praziquantel is the treatment of choice.^[22] Usual treatments are with praziquantel (5–10 mg/kg, single-administration) or niclosamide (adults and children over 6 years: 2 g, single-administration after a light breakfast, followed after 2 hours by a laxative; children aged 2–6 years: 1 g; children under 2 years: 500 mg).^[11] One study showed albendazole is effective against animal beef tapeworm cysticercosis.^[23] Mepacrine is quite effective but has adverse effects in humans.^[24]

Epidemiology

The total global infection is estimated to be between 40 and 60 million people.^[25] In the US, the incidence of infection is low, but 25% of cattle sold are still infected.^[16]

Regions

Taeniasis is predominantly found in Asia, Africa, Latin America, particularly on farms in which pigs are exposed to human excrement. At a low level though, it occurs everywhere where beef and pork are eaten, even in countries with strict sanitation policies such as the United States. Taenia saginata is relatively common in Africa, some parts of Eastern Europe,^[26] the Philippines, and Latin America.^[27] It is most prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.^[28] Taenia asiatica is restricted to East Asia, including Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand and China.^[29][30]

See also

• Tapeworm infection

References