Bovine, or unarmed, tapeworm is a parasite that infects cattle, but the final "master" can only be a person. The worm in the livestock body lives in the larval stage, and in the human body in the tape. It parasitizes in people in the small intestine.
Morphology
Bull tapeworm is a representative of the genus of flatworms. The minimum length is 4 meters, the maximum is 12 meters. Although there were cases when the parasite reached 22 meters.
The width of the worm is not more than 7 mm, thickness 2 mm. The body has a flat ribbon-like shape. Such a structure makes it possible to extract useful substances from the human intestine without any particular problems.
The parasite has no digestive system, no anus, no mouth. As a matter of fact, he does not need them, since the food extracted from the host is already digested. Consumption occurs through a flat membrane. The diet of the worm is represented mainly by polysaccharides, mainly glucose, which is extremely important for the existence of the parasite.
Bull tapeworm is a hermaphrodite. The uterus is represented by a closed cycle. Both reproductive systems are located in the middle third of the strobila.
As the number of eggs increases, the uterus grows in size. On the sides there are growths, about 20-30 pieces. They contain from 50 to 150 thousand larvae that do not need to ripen in an external environment. Such a huge amount is due to the fact that the eggs do not ripen evenly.
The eggs are rounded, the embryo contains 3 hooks.
Over time, the segments that are located in the lower part of the strobila are slightly elongated, disconnected, and move forward, passing through the human intestine through the anus into the external environment. Some segments are very passive and move with food, while others move independently to the anus.
Every day, an infected person secretes from 1 to 20 segments. At the same time, the worm itself does not become shorter, its neck is constantly growing. The parasite can live in the human body for about 15 years.
Bull Chain Life Cycle
Despite the fact that helminths are the simplest, the worm goes through a rather complicated life cycle, replacing two hosts.
The first owner is cattle and not necessarily livestock - it can be buffalo, deer and yaks, living free.
After the segments exit the human body, proglottids can even move over the soil and grass for some time, spreading the eggs. In the external environment, without a host, the larvae live for about a month. As soon as the animal absorbs grass with an egg, everything starts anew.
The parasite enters the gastrointestinal tract of livestock, under the influence of enzymes, the shell of the egg is destroyed. Hatched larvae can even penetrate the bloodstream and thus move throughout the animal's body, including muscle tissue, organs. A parasite can live in his body for up to 3 years.
If infected meat undergoes poor heat treatment, then fully formed larvae do not die, but enter the body of the final host. The gastric juice of the esophagus destroys the protective membrane, and the parasite is attached to the walls of the intestine by three suction cups.
Maturation to an adult occurs quickly enough. After 3 months, the length of the parasite can reach 5 meters. After puberty, the worm begins to multiply.
Geographic distribution
Infection of a person with bull tapeworm most often occurs in countries where for religious or other reasons they consume a lot of beef, in countries where sanitary standards are poorly observed.
Teniarinhoz is a common disease in Africa, Latin America and the Philippines. In the European part of our continent, cases of infection in Slovakia and Turkey are most often recorded. According to various estimates, from 40 to 60 million people are infected in the world.
Symptomatology
Symptoms of bovine tapeworm in humans are very diverse. For some years, some people do not even suspect the presence of helminths in their bodies; in others, the disease is severe. But there is one symptom that is characteristic of all patients - severe itching in the anus, often leading to the development of neurotic pathologies.
Gastrointestinal tract
This is the place where worms live, so most of the problems are in this area. First of all, motility is impaired. Often there is catarrhal inflammation associated with the presence of a parasite inside the intestine.
Infected people are often worried about heaviness in the stomach, even during fasting. Heartburn and belching become a constant companion, regardless of food intake. Salivation may increase and nausea can be tormented, including vomiting.
If pain in the stomach is observed, then they do not have a clear localization. Cramping sensations can occur if the parasite tries to penetrate from the small to the large intestine.
Defecation unstable: then constipation, then diarrhea.
There are frequent cases when, against the background of the presence of a parasite, a duodenal ulcer develops. If the bovine tapeworm breaks into a ball, then intestinal obstruction develops.
General state
The presence of a parasite in the body can be suspected by external signs. The worm absorbs almost all the beneficial substances that the stomach produces during the digestion of food, so infected people often have poor hair and nails. Inflammatory processes constantly appear on the skin, the cover becomes dry. Toxic substances in the worm can cause allergies. An urticaria exanthema may appear, that is, a rash with a dry crust.
At the same time, a person is constantly hungry, but eating more and more food does not get better, and even a decrease in body weight is observed.
Increased fatigue, irritability, and insomnia may speak of intoxication. Some infected individuals even have epileptic seizures.
In patients, the tongue increases in size or cracks appear.
Other manifestations of the disease
A sign of bovine tapeworm may be an increase in blood pressure and an increase in heart rate. This condition can be accompanied by tachycardia, the appearance of tinnitus and flies in front of the eyes.
If segments appear in the vomit, it means that they are in the middle ear. There are frequent cases of the development of anemia.
For pregnant women, teniarinhoz is very dangerous, since in most cases women are unable to bear a child with such a “neighbor” in the body.
However, all at once the symptoms of bovine tapeworm are very rare. As a rule, their number increases depending on the duration of the disease, the longer a person is not treated, the more signs of pathology.
You should know that it is impossible to get infected from the carrier of a tapeworm, for the worm to develop and grow, an intermediate host, an animal, is required. Moreover, the degree of perception of the parasite by the human body is very high.
Possible risks
As a rule, serious diseases develop when the worm enters the abdominal cavity. In this case, there is a huge risk of mechanical intestinal obstruction, the development of cholecystitis and fatty pancreatic necrosis. The appearance of pancreatitis and exacerbation of appendicitis is not excluded.
Diagnostic measures
Identifying a bovine tapeworm in humans is a rather difficult task. The disease does not have specific symptoms, so at the first stage, the doctor has to conduct a very delicate survey.
For certain suspicions, a laboratory analysis of feces is prescribed.
In some cases, additional studies are carried out:
- Kato's method;
- flotation method Kalantaryan;
- imprint on adhesive tape;
- perianal-rectal scraping.
In some cases, it is not possible to determine whether it is bovine or pork tapeworm, which is very important for prescribing treatment. In this case, a laboratory study of the joints is carried out.
Contrast radiography of the small intestine can confirm the presence of a worm in the body. In the photo, the bull tapeworm is similar to the light streaks on the small intestine.
In the presence of worms in the blood, the eosinophil count may increase, but this is the so-called temporary symptom, therefore, a general blood test is not necessary for diagnostic measures.
Treatment
As usual, the treatment of bovine tapeworm is carried out on an outpatient basis, but sometimes in a hospital. The essence of therapy is the administration of antiparasitic medicines. Treatment is carried out exclusively under the supervision of doctors, with the determination of the effectiveness of the prescribed therapy.
Drug therapy
The most common drug in the treatment of teniarinhosis is “Fenasal”, “Biltricid” is prescribed as an additional drug. Drugs are taken once, the dosage should be determined by the doctor, depending on the age, weight of the patient and other factors. As a rule, the helminth comes out on its own, without any additional measures, through the anus.
Before treatment and during, you will have to follow a sparing diet: no alcohol, fatty, smoked and fried foods. Sweets and a number of vegetables also fall under the ban: cabbage, beets, legumes, and others. Food should be fractional, at least 5 times, but in small portions.
Your doctor may prescribe cleansing enemas or laxatives.
The effectiveness of therapy is determined by fecal analyzes. For 4 months in the stool should not be observed joints. If they are found, then the course of treatment is repeated. It is gratifying that, as a rule, the forecast is favorable.
There are other drugs, Niklozamide, Praziquantel, but self-medication is not recommended, all anthelmintic drugs are very toxic.
Phytopreparations
In the pharmaceutical market, preparations with natural ingredients are widely represented. As a rule, they include more than 10 anthelmintic herbs, from oak bark to chamomile and dried cinnamon.
Treatment with natural drugs is long, but it has no contraindications and side effects, provided that there is no allergy to herbs. That is, phytopreparations can be treated during pregnancy and in childhood.
Folk ways
Some people try to avoid pharmaceuticals, use folk remedies and, according to them, they even manage to get rid of bull tapeworm. To date, there are three ways that really help.
- Pumpkin seeds. Peel unroasted seeds and try to leave a film. Throughout the day, you can not use anything except seeds, even water. Before going to bed, you need to drink a laxative and no longer eat.
- Pomegranate peels. It will take 50 grams of dried and ground crusts, which should be poured with boiling water (400 grams) and insisted for 6 hours. After that, put the tincture on the fire and boil to a volume of 200 ml. Drink the resulting solution for an hour, and after 30 minutes drink a laxative. For 4 hours you can not eat and drink, as soon as time runs out, it is necessary to make a cleansing enema.
- Salty fish. You should eat as much fish as you fit in your stomach and do not drink water for 3 hours. Then drink a laxative.
Whatever method is chosen from traditional or traditional medicine, it should be ensured that the bull tapeworm comes out (most importantly, with the head). Photo parasite can be found in the article.
Rules of conduct after treatment
Once the worm is finished, you should not relax, it will take time to restore the body. It is recommended to refuse harmful foods, fried and fatty foods. Be sure to monitor your underwear, especially if you are treating at home, there should be no suspicious discharge from the anus. If all is well for 3-4 months, only then can we talk about a full recovery.
Do not forget about personal hygiene, heat the meat well, refuse to eat steaks and barbecue, meat with blood.
When purchasing meat, inspect it well, sometimes worm larvae can be seen with the naked eye.