Task Sheet: Case 2 Kinilaw King

1. Identify/discuss the types of cestodes that are commonly found in the Philippine:
a. Taenia saginata
b. Taenia solium
2. Identify/discuss the epidemiology of T. solium and T. saginata
3. Identify/discuss the mode of transmission and lifecycle of tapeworms.
4. Identify/discuss the signs and symptoms related t tapeworm infection.
5. Identify/discuss the mode of treatment of Taeniasis
a. T. Saginata
b. T. solium
6. Identify/discuss the methods of preventing tapeworm infection
Taenia saginata
Beef tapeworm of humans.
Cosmopolitan in distribution
Humans as definitive host
Lives in upper jejunum 25 years

Morphology

Pathogenes
is

Diagnosis

Lifecycle

Treatment

Epidemiolo
gy

Chief complaint: irritated by alcohol, and

passage of proglottids sometimes result
after a drinking bout.
Devoid of hooks or resotellum. Attached
to scholex is a short neck from which a
chain of immature, mature and gravid
progllotids develop.

Nonspecific symptoms: epigastric pain,

vague discomfort, hunger pangs,
weakness, weight loss, loss of appetite,
pruritis ani.
Rare: obstruction.

Sp. Dx; proglottids, eggs or scholex,

Egg in feces embryonated eggs or

proglottids ingested CATTLE
oncosphere hatches, penetrates intestinal
wall circulation circulation
cucticrercus bovis in muscle tissue of
cattle ingested raw or with improperly
cooked meat Scholex attaches to
intestine adult in small intestine.
Gravid proglottids - egg in feces.
DOC: praziquantel 5-10mg/kg

Taenia Solis
Pork tapeworm of man. Cosmopolitan
distribution. May serve as definitive or
intermediate host.

Adult 2-4 meters in length.

Scholex carries a cushion like rostellum with a
double crown of 25 to 30 large and small hooks.
Resembles T. saginata, except: difference lies in
the presence of an accessory ovarian lobe, the
absence of a vaginal sphincter, and the smaller
number of follicular testes in the mature
proglottid.
Intestinal: mild nonspecific abdominal
complaints. Unlikely obstruction.
Cystercercosis most common in striated
muscles and in the brain. Cysts may survive for
5 years. Upon death, the cystic fluid increases
and there is a pronounce tissue response to the
parasite. The parasite is eventually calcified.
Symptomology dependent on the size and
location of the lesion.
Neurocysticcercosis Convulsions
Sp. Dx; proglottids, eggs or scholex
Neurocysticcercosis may be suspected in a
patient with epileptic seizers without associated
systemic symptoms but living in an endemic
area.
CT, MRI
CSF ELISA, EITB, Western blot for IgG and IgM. ,
Egg in feces pork intermediate host
oncosphere hatches penetrates intestinal wall
circulation ingested with raw or improperly
cooked meat scolex attaches to intestine
adult in SM gravid proglottids in feces or
environment circulation oncosphere hatches
penetrates intestinal wall - -> cycsticercus in
lungs, brain, eye, CT.

Intestine; Praziquantel and niclosamide

Cysticercus: praziquanel at higher doses.
Corticosteroid and mannitol therapy
Distribution of both infections is highly related to the habit of eating raw or improperly
cooked meat. (Religious restrictions...)
T. solium: Slavic counties, Latin America, Southeast Asia, China, and India
T. saginata endemnicity in Ethiopia and east Africa.

Prevention

Maintenance of the life cycle is dependent on the level of environmental sanitation practiced
in the area.
Animal intermediate hosts especially the pigs should be kept in pens to avoid access to
human feces.
Contamination of the grazing fields with human feces favors infection of the intermediate
hosts.
Philippines: T. saginata > T. solium
Though surveys show that pigs are more infected than cattle
Overall prevalence of taeniasis: 0.56% in selected areas.
Thorough cooking of meat is a primary measure. Freezing at -20 C for 10 days
Sanitary inspection of all slaughtered pigs, cows, and cattle.