In nature, there are many parasites that are not averse to settle in the human body. Living inside us, they cause harm to health, but sometimes most of us do not even think that feeling unwell, headaches, and digestion are all triggered by helminths. Of all the worms, the most dangerous is bull tapeworm. How can you become infected with such a parasite, we will consider further.
Meet the bull tapeworm
You can think about the scale of the damage caused by this parasite, if you know that its size can reach 12 meters, while the human intestine is only 6 meters. Bull tapeworm belongs to the class of tapeworms, in its structure the following departments can be distinguished:
- the head with suction cups, with their help the parasite clings securely in the intestine;
- neck;
- the body of the worm, consisting of many segments.
Bovine tapeworm infection pathways can be different, in order to understand them, it is necessary to consider its life cycle.
Worm Life Cycle
Numerous segments of bovine tapeworm gradually mature and separate from the body. They contain a huge number of eggs. Leaving the human body through the anus or while visiting the toilet, they end up in an environment where they can safely continue to exist for up to several weeks.
Bull tapeworm develops with a change of ownership. For the development cycle to continue, the eggs must enter the intermediate host, which is cattle, such as a cow. This usually happens with the grass that the animals eat.
In the intermediate host, larvae emerge from the eggs, they penetrate the muscle tissue through the blood vessels and turn into Finnish vesicles - this is the next stage of development. Now it remains to wait for the person to eat the infected meat, and the development cycle will begin again.
Harm of bull tapeworm for humans
It doesn’t matter what the source of infection was with a bovine tapeworm, but when it penetrates the human body, the parasite has a negative effect on health. Its habitat can lead to serious consequences:
- inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
- disruption of the intestines;
- stomach ache;
- development of bowel obstruction, constipation;
- disturbances in the immune system;
- rashes on the skin, a change in its color.
Given that the worm lives off the body's nutrients, it can be concluded that a person begins to experience a deficiency of many vitamins and minerals.
Bull tapeworm: ways to infect humans
Some people think that it is only necessary to stroke a sick cow - and infection is ensured, but this is not true. There are other methods of infection:
- Pets. Tapeworms quite often parasitize in the body of dogs and cats, so they can become a source of infection.
- You can get bull tapeworm through fish and meat. If you purchase these products in the markets, then their safety is difficult to guarantee. And to notice the parasite eggs with the naked eye is almost impossible.
- If you eat poorly cooked or fried meat or fish, then the risk of contracting a parasite is great.
- Raw meat can become a source of human infection with bovine tapeworm. It may contain eggs and the Finns of the parasite, eating a similar product, and some prefer such meat, it threatens with infection.
- If you cut infected meat, and then wash the knife badly, then the tapeworm eggs can get on other products that will be cut with this device.
How does a bull tapeworm get into the human body, how can one become infected, the photo above in this article demonstrates, but by what symptoms can a disease be recognized?
Signs of bovine tapeworm infection
The disease that is triggered by this parasitic worm is called teniarinhoz. If bovine tapeworm has attacked the intestines, the symptoms in humans may be as follows:
- weight begins to decrease, although the diet has not changed;
- loss of appetite;
- constipation begins;
- disruption of the intestines;
- pain in the abdomen;
- a person's sleep is disturbed, excessive irritability appears;
- fatigue with any kind of work;
- attention is reduced;
- with the development of the worm, the symptoms are aggravated, intestinal obstruction develops;
- pancreas inflammation;
- signs of cholecystitis.
If these symptoms appear, then you need to visit a doctor who will prescribe effective diagnostic methods, and then therapy, which will help get rid of the parasite.
Diagnosis of teniarinhosis
It is possible, of course, to suspect the presence of parasites in your body, but only a doctor can make an accurate diagnosis. The following methods for detecting a parasite in the body are:
- The doctor talks with the patient, listens to his complaints. Explains how infection with bovine tapeworm occurs and finds out if the patient has had such situations.
- The direction for the analysis of feces is given.
- A blood test will reveal inflammatory processes. In the presence of a parasite in the body, as a rule, analysis shows an increased number of eosinophils, a lack of hemoglobin and red blood cells, and leukocytes increase.
- Serological reactions are used to detect antibodies to the antigens of the parasitic worm.
- You may need an x-ray of the intestine.
After receiving all the research data, the doctor makes a final diagnosis.
You need to know that diagnosing the disease yourself, and even more so prescribing therapy for yourself, can be dangerous.
Differential diagnosis
Such diagnostics are necessary to distinguish between a bovine tapeworm and a pork tapeworm. Pork tapeworm segments do not exit the anus, so it is impossible to detect them in the analysis of feces.
Two parasites can be recognized by the nature of the structure of the joints. They are squeezed between the slides and the branches of the uterus are counted. An accurate diagnosis can only be made after examining the heads, they can be provoked by anthelmintics.
Complications that develop as a result of infection with a parasite
How the bull tapeworm develops, how you can become infected with it, we have already considered. We go further.
If the parasite has settled in the intestine, then without effective treatment, getting rid of it will not work. And the complete absence thereof is fraught with serious complications. This is intestinal obstruction. A dangerous complication is cysticercosis. It develops as a result of penetration of tapeworm embryos into the eyes, brain, subcutaneous fat, heart muscle, and lungs. Pathology can be established through clinical studies and ophthalmoscopy.
For the prevention of various complications, it is necessary to make an accurate diagnosis as soon as possible and begin treatment.
How to get rid of a bull tapeworm
At the specialist’s consultation, you can find out what a bull’s tapeworm is, how you can become infected and what to do to get rid of the parasite. Treatment, as a rule, involves the use of deworming. These drugs help detach the worm from the walls of the intestines and bring it out. These drugs have the following requirements:
- efficiency;
- minimal toxic effects on the human body;
- convenient way to receive;
- rapid incorporation into metabolism;
- reasonable cost.
Usually, therapy is performed on an outpatient basis after consulting a doctor. The effectiveness of treatment is assessed by the absence of secretions of segments with feces over the next few months.
Use for the treatment of anthelmintic plants
Not only therapy, but also prevention are quite effective if you use ready-made formulations, which include anthelmintic plants. These funds have several advantages over synthetic drugs:
- as a result of therapy, no side effects occur;
- they include rare ingredients, such as bear bile, which is capable of breaking eggs of parasites;
- a large number of plants included in the composition, provides the versatility of the use of drugs, they help to get rid of several parasites at once;
- virtually no time is required to prepare a remedy for use.
Before using such funds, it is advisable to consult a doctor, because the presence of some chronic pathologies may be a contraindication to such therapy.
Is it possible to avoid infection?
If you know what a bull tapeworm is, how you can become infected with this parasite, then you can easily formulate the main preventive measures.
It is necessary to vaccinate pets.
Periodically take antiparasitic drugs as a preventative measure.
Purchase meat only in those outlets that can provide you with a quality certificate.
Thoroughly heat-treat meat products.
Do not eat raw, dried meat, especially if it is purchased in dubious places.
Wash knives well after cutting raw meat.
If a person is infected with parasites, then it is necessary to reduce the number of contacts with him.
It is important to observe the rules of personal hygiene.
If the house has a patient with teniarihosis, then it is necessary to carry out wet cleaning with the use of disinfectants. He needs to allocate separate dishes, a towel, change bed linen every day.
We can also note preventive measures that should be carried out under the supervision of special services:
- Be sure to do an examination of each carcass of cattle before sending it for processing or for sale;
- timely detect sick animals;
- conduct a survey of farm workers;
- take measures to protect the environment from pollution by animal feces;
- An important role is played by the sanitary arrangement of settlements.
If a bull’s tapeworm settles in the human body (how you can become infected, you already know), then you should not self-medicate. The thing is that teniarinhosis in its manifestations resembles many other pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract, therefore, only after clarifying the diagnosis, you can start therapy. It should be prescribed by a specialist, because it is important not only to choose a drug, but also to determine the dosage and duration of treatment.