Author:
Laura McKinney
Date Of Creation:
2 August 2021
Update Date:
1 July 2024
Content
Many people think that only dogs and cats are infected with tapeworms. Although animals are more susceptible to tapeworms, people are at risk if they eat raw / undercooked beef, pork or fish. People infected with tapeworms can spread to others by not washing their hands after using the toilet and before cooking. In most cases, people infected with tapeworms experience relatively few symptoms. Treatment for tapeworms is extremely important as tapeworms can lead to more serious complications such as tissue cyst infection and convulsions.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Diagnosis of tapeworm infection
Evaluate your surroundings and recent travel. Tapeworms exist all over the world, but infection rates vary from country to country. Worldwide, more than 10 million people each year are infected, of which, the number of infected cases in the United States less than 1,000 cases. Different types of tapeworms are parasitic in different animals.
- Pig and bovine tapeworms are abundant in developing regions around the world such as Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Central and South America and are particularly common in swine areas.
- It is popular in regions that favor raw beef consumption such as Eastern Europe, Russia, East Africa and Latin America.
- The fish tapeworm is popular in raw fish-eating regions such as Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and Japan.
- Dwarf tapeworms can be passed from person to person, especially in children living in unhygienic areas or in crowded places.
- Dog tapeworms can sometimes be parasitic in the human body.
Review the recent diet. Tapeworm infection occurs after you eat raw or undercooked meat from an animal infected with a tapeworm. People infected with tapeworms can also infect meat with tapeworms during processing. You are at risk for a tapeworm infection when:- Eat raw or undercooked meat.
- Eat foods that are processed in poor hygienic conditions.
Check the stool. Excreted tapeworm segments in the stool are the most recognizable sign of a tapeworm infection. The tapeworm segment is usually a small white rice seed. You can see fluids in toilet paper or in your underwear.- The tapeworm fragments usually appear after 2-3 months the tapeworm develops and matures in the human body.
- The stool sample makes it easier to detect the tapeworm.
Evaluate other tapeworm infection symptoms. Common symptoms of tapeworm infection are digestive disorders such as abdominal pain, weakness, loss of appetite, weight loss, diarrhea and nausea. However, the above symptoms can be a sign of many other health problems. In addition, there are cases of tapeworm infection that does not show any symptoms.- In some cases, tapeworm infection can cause serious symptoms such as fever; mass or cyst; allergic reactions to tapeworm larvae; infection or neurological signs or symptoms such as seizures. Symptoms above occur when tapeworms are left untreated. Try to get rid of the tapeworm even if your symptoms are not severe.
See a doctor. Your doctor can analyze stool samples for an accurate diagnosis of tapeworms. This will help to rule out or determine the type of tapeworm to find the right treatment.
- In addition to helping diagnose tapeworms, stool sample analysis also identifies many other digestive problems such as infections, nutritional deficiencies and cancer.
- People infected with tapeworms also need a blood test to determine the antibodies in the blood.
Part 2 of 3: Treatment of tapeworms
Get a prescription from your doctor. After diagnosing a tapeworm, your doctor can prescribe an oral medication to treat you. The three common types of tapeworm prescription medications are praziquantel, albendazole and nitazoxanide. Your doctor will rely on the type of tapeworm you have been infected to prescribe medication.
Follow the prescribed treatment regimen. In addition to taking the right medication, you should avoid re-infection or passing tapeworms on to others. The tapeworm treatment does not affect the tapeworm eggs, so you can re-infection if you have poor hygiene or poor hygiene.
- If you have a tapeworm infection (a severe tapeworm infection), your doctor may recommend a longer and more complex treatment regimen. Treatment for hydatid cysts includes prescription medications, anti-inflammatory drugs, antiepileptic drugs, or surgery.
Determine whether the tapeworm has been completely eliminated. Your doctor may re-evaluate after you have been on the medication for a while. Depending on the severity, you may need a follow-up visit after 1-3 months on medication.
- The effectiveness of prescription drugs usually reaches 85-100%, depending on the type of tapeworm and the location of the infection in the body.
Part 3 of 3: Preventing tapeworms
Avoid raw meat. Many meats are at high risk for tapeworm infection such as bovine meat, pork, fish, lamb, goat and rabbit meat. Not eating raw or undercooked meat is the easiest way to prevent tapeworms.
- Keep in mind that there is a bird tapeworm, but not as common if the birds are kept on a modern farm where the vectors that transmit tapeworms like earthworms or beetles are eliminated.
Cook the meat. For meat cuts, cook meat from the inside out and make sure the internal temperature reaches 63 ° C. For ground meat, the internal temperature of the meat should reach 71 ° C.
- Freeze meat and fish at -10 ° C for at least 48 hours to kill tapeworm eggs and larvae.
Sterilize fruits and vegetables while traveling in an area prone to tapeworm contamination. You can buy a chemical solution to sterilize fruits and vegetables or simply rinse thoroughly with clean water (boiled water).
Wash your hands properly before preparing food, eating, and after handling raw meat or fish. Hand washing helps to prevent infection of eggs or helminth larvae from hands to food or the digestive system. You can also prevent the risk of infecting others with good hand hygiene.
- Make sure to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. You can wash your hands while humming a song about 20 seconds in length to make sure the washing time is sufficient.
