The habit of eating undercooked and raw beef and pork is a great risk for tapeworm infection. The case of a 28-year-old female patient in Quang Ninh is an example. The girl went to the doctor with symptoms of abdominal pain, anal itching, loose stools and tapeworms, sometimes the tapeworms came out of the anus on their own. Before that, she had the habit of eating rare beef noodles with raw vegetables about 3-4 times a month.
Through clinical and paraclinical examination, doctors diagnosed the patient with beef tapeworm infection. She was prescribed special treatment for tapeworms according to the protocol. After 24 hours of monitoring, the patient continued to defecate a tapeworm segment about 3-4cm, health is stable.
Doctor CKI Tran Quoc Tuan – Deputy Head of the Department of Tropical Diseases at Bai Chay Hospital (Quang Ninh) said that when people eat meat containing undercooked or raw beef tapeworm larval cysts, the larval cysts will enter the human intestine. The larvae then escape from the cyst with their heads turned out thanks to the suction cup, attaching to the intestinal mucosa, usually in the upper jejunum. Here the flukes absorb nutrients and grow. They last a long time because they are resistant to proteolytic enzymes in the small intestine.
Beef tapeworms take up food, weakening the body. At the same time, it causes damage to the intestines, enteritis, digestive disorders… causing symptoms for patients such as stomach pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, dizziness, headaches, anemia or even low blood pressure… Especially Distinguishing tapeworms causes a feeling of horror when the patient sees the tapeworm protruding from the anus and crawling out.
According to the doctor, patients infected with invasive tapeworm larvae can cause complications. severity depends on where the larvae reside. In the case of larvae in the brain, the patient’s symptoms may vary depending on the location of the larvae, such as slurred speech, convulsions, severe headaches or confusion.
With Larvae in the eye, symptoms may appear such as glaucoma, tearing, decreased vision, double vision, compression behind the eyeball… If the larvae are in the striated muscle, cysts of size 0 may appear under the skin. 5 – 2cm and moves easily without causing itching. Cysts in the intercostal muscles of the back of the chest or the muscles of the arms and legs can lead to chronic headaches…
Larva cysts in the myocardium can change the sound of the heart, making the heart beat faster, making the patient have difficulty breathing and easily faint…
In Vietnam, tapeworm disease is scattered in many places across the country, with fluctuating infection rates. 0 5-12 %. In which the infection rate of beef tapeworm accounts for 70-80%, pork tapeworm accounts for a low rate of 10-20%. The cause of patients being infected with beef tapeworm or pork tapeworm is due to eating raw beef and pork with live tapeworm eggs that hatch into adult parasitic tapeworms in the small intestine. Beef tapeworms can live 20-30 years parasitizing the patient and can reach a length of 4-12m.
Therefore, doctors recommend that to prevent disease, people should pay attention to fish hygiene. Eat clean food, eat cooked food and drink boiled food, do not eat undercooked or raw foods (vegetables, beef, pork, etc.). Pay attention to the symptoms of tapeworm infection (abdominal pain, nausea, loose stools, weight loss, etc.) to receive timely treatment to avoid spreading the disease to the community.
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