Bovine tapeworm in humans (teniarinhoz)
Teniarinhoz is a parasitic disease that belongs to the group of biohelminthiasis. The causative agent of teniarhynchiasis in humans is bovine tapeworm, which parasitizes in the small intestine. Teniarinchiasis most often has a chronic course and manifests itself in disorders of the digestive system, as well as in toxic-allergic reactions.
Bovine tapeworm is widespread throughout the world, but most of the people affected by this helminthic invasion live in Central and South Africa, Asia, South America, China, Mongolia and Australia. This is due to the extensive development of cattle breeding. As for Russia, cases of teniarinchosis are recorded in Dagestan, Tuva, the Sakha Republic and Buryatia. There is evidence of human infection with bovine tapeworm in the Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Tyumen regions. Patients with a similar diagnosis are admitted to hospitals in Perm, Altai and Krasnoyarsk Territories.
The parasite spreads by foci, most often the disease is recorded among rural residents. Mostly the population suffers, which eats either raw or poorly heat-treated cow meat. The danger is salted and jerky meat containing cysticercus worm.
The maximum number of cases of teniarinchiasis is recorded during periods of mass slaughter of cattle - this is winter and autumn. If we consider statistics on gender and age, then adults get sick more often than children, the vast majority of patients are men. At the same time, workers of livestock farms and meat processing plants prevail.
Content:
- Who is a bovine tapeworm?
- Bovine tapeworm symptoms
- Ways of human infection with bovine tapeworm
- Why is the bull tapeworm dangerous?
- Development life cycle of a bull tapeworm
- Diagnostics of the bovine tapeworm
- Bovine tapeworm treatment
- Prevention of bovine tapeworm
Who is a bovine tapeworm?
Bovine tapeworm is a helminth that parasitizes the human small intestine. It belongs to the class of tapeworms, to the type of tapeworms. This worm is also called an unarmed tapeworm. Its body has a flat ribbon-like shape, consists of a neck, scolex (head) and strobilus. A rudimentary proboscis and four suckers without hooks are located on the scolex. The neck of the worm is short and goes over to the strobilus. The strobila itself can consist of 2000 (or less) proglottids (segments).
Bovine tapeworm is a very large worm that can reach more than 10 m in length. This helminth is a hermaphrodite, and its female and male reproductive systems are well developed. The genitals are located in the middle third of the strobila.
The uterus of the bovine tapeworm is closed, the eggs ripen and accumulate inside it. In the process of increasing the number of eggs, the uterus begins to stretch, after which protrusions appear on its sides (from 18 to 32 pieces on each side). Other organs atrophy. The eggs do not ripen evenly, therefore, in the terminal segments there can be from 50 to 150 thousand larvae ready for invasion. They do not need to ripen in the external environment.
Bovine tapeworm eggs have a rounded shape, outside they are covered with a thin transparent shell. Inside a mature egg is an oncosphere - an embryo equipped with 3 hooks.
The segments located at the end of the strobila begin to stretch and narrow and then break away from the strobila, moving forward. After separation from the strobila, the segments move through the human intestine and exit into the external environment through the anus along with the feces. It is interesting that some segments passively move through the intestines along with the digested food, and some can independently, and quite actively make their way to the anus of a person. Every day the patient can allocate from 1 to 23 segments. At the same time, the worm itself does not become shorter, since new segments constantly grow from the neck. They gradually develop, mature and move to the tail of the worm, from which they subsequently detach.
The final owner of the bovine tapeworm is a man, and the intermediate owner is cattle. Already 2-4 months after the invasion, the patient begins to release the eggs of the worm into the environment. This can continue for 15 years or more.
Bovine tapeworm symptoms
Symptoms of the bovine tapeworm may be absent altogether, or they can manifest themselves brightly, causing severe health problems. Sometimes, for many years, the only symptom of infection is the presence of segments of the worm in the feces, or their independent crawling out of the anus. This process is always accompanied by unpleasant sensations and leads to the development of neurotic disorders in the patient. Patients compare what is happening with crawling in the anus of foreign bodies, which cause severe itching.
The clinical picture of teniarhynchiasis may look like this:
- Impaired motility and excretory function of the gastrointestinal tract as a whole.
- Catarrhal inflammation of the intestine, which occurs against the background of the traumatic effect of the parasite on the mucous membrane of the small intestine.
- Feeling of a feeling of heaviness and pain in the epigastric region.
- The presence of heartburn and belching, not associated with food intake.
- Increased salivation.
- Constant feeling of nausea, recurrent urge to vomit.
- Abdominal pain that is not associated with any gastrointestinal disease. Pains have no clear localization. When the worm moves through the flap connecting the small and large intestines, the pain becomes cramping.
- Unstable stool, in which constipation is replaced by diarrhea, flatulence.
- Often against the background of teniarhynchiasis, the patient develops a duodenal ulcer or biliary colic occurs.
- Intestinal obstruction occurs when the worm collapses into a lump and prevents the movement of feces.
- Insufficient absorption of minerals and vitamins due to the presence of a parasitic worm in the intestine leads to the fact that the patient's nails and hair deteriorate, the skin becomes dry and prone to inflammation. The organism as a whole suffers.
- A person infected with a bovine tapeworm experiences a constant feeling of hunger, he wants to eat all the time. However, despite the increased appetite, the weight does not gain. Moreover, prolonged parasitism of the worm in the intestine leads to a loss of body weight.
- In the course of its life, the tapeworm releases toxic substances. They poison the human body, provoking an increase in allergic reactions and eosinophilia.
- Patients often note a worsening of night rest, increased irritability and fatigue, recurrent dizziness, headaches and weakness in the limbs. Naturally, a person does not associate these symptoms with parasitic invasion. Meanwhile, such an asthenovegetative complex is the result of intoxication of the body with the waste products of the bovine tapeworm. In rare cases, the development of epileptiform seizures is possible.
- From the side of the cardiovascular system, it is possible to increase the heartbeat, lower blood pressure. Sometimes painful sensations arise in the region of the heart, tachycardia is noted, at such moments there is noise in the ears, flies may appear before the eyes. Less commonly, nosebleeds develop.
- Cases are described when the mobile segments entered the respiratory tract and into the middle ear through the Eustachian tube. Their detection in vomit is possible.
- In a number of patients, cracks in the tongue, its soreness, and also an increase in the size of the tongue are noted.
- In debilitated patients, urticarial exanthema may appear when a crusty rash appears on the body.
Carriage of a bovine tapeworm during pregnancy is dangerous, as this can lead to the onset of premature birth, miscarriage and severe toxicosis. In addition, people with bovine tapeworm in the body often suffer from anemia.
It should be noted that full symptoms are rare. They tend to grow, depending on how long the parasite lives in the human body.
Thus, in the chronic stage of the disease, 4 main symptom complexes of bovine tapeworm in humans are noted:
- Asthenovegetative (weakness, asthenia);
- Abdominal (abdominal pain);
- Dyspeptic (disorders of the gastrointestinal tract);
- Nutritional (increased appetite).
Ways of human infection with bovine tapeworm
The transmission mechanism of the parasite is fecal-oral, and the main route of infection is food. After a sick person begins to release helminth eggs into the environment, they fall into water, soil, grass, etc. After a certain time, the egg finds its intermediate host - cattle. The larva lives in his body for 4-5 months, during this period it becomes ready for the invasion of the human body.
It should be noted that a person carrying a bovine tapeworm does not pose a threat to another person in terms of immediate infection. The larva of the worm immediately after leaving the body of its main host cannot infect another person. In order to prepare, it needs an intermediate host organism.
The main ways of human infection with bovine tapeworm:
- Eating poorly cooked or roasted beef.
- Failure to comply with household and sanitary and hygienic skills when working with raw meat, when performing economic activities.
- Removing a sample from raw minced meat. Housewives are often infected in this way.
- The culinary preferences of a particular nation should be noted separately. For example, people often become infected by eating kebabs and slices. It was found that when preparing a shish kebab, the mass of pieces of which is 50 g or more, with the standard method of frying, most of the cysticerks remain viable.
The natural susceptibility of humans to bovine tapeworm infection is high.
Why is the bull tapeworm dangerous?
In addition to the fact that the bovine tapeworm is harmful to health in general, the following complications may develop that threaten life:
- Mechanical intestinal obstruction. This happens when there are several worms in the intestines, or in the event that a single individual gets entangled and strays into a lump.
- Cholecystitis and cholangitis. The worm can enter the bile duct, blocking the natural outflow of bile, which leads to the development of these complications. In medicine, a case of blockage by a bovine chain of the bile duct with the subsequent development of fatty necrosis of the pancreas is described.
- Pancreatitis. The introduction of helminths into the tissue of the pancreas is not excluded.
- Appendicitis.
- Peritoneal abscess. A complication develops when the intestinal wall is perforated and when the worm enters the abdominal cavity.
Development life cycle of a bull tapeworm
The life cycle of the development of a bull tapeworm is quite complex. It includes a change of two hosts. The intermediate owner is cattle, and the permanent owner is man. In addition to livestock, tapeworm larvae can choose wild yaks, buffaloes, and deer as a victim.
In humans, the worm can live and parasitize in the small intestine for 20 years. All this time, a person will be a carrier of a tapeworm, as well as a source of environmental contamination, releasing tapeworm eggs containing oncospheres into it along with feces. The end segments go out from the anus of a person, later falling into the soil, into the water, on pastures, on the grass during watering. In external conditions, helminth eggs can exist for a month.
Cattle consume contaminated water, grass, hay and become infected with bovine tapeworm. After entering the gastrointestinal tract, the larvae of the worm are absorbed into the bloodstream and spread throughout the body of the animal. They settle in muscle tissue, can be found in connective tissue elements (in the heart, in the tongue), where they remain to mature. After 4-5 months, they turn into Finns and cysticercus, which contain the protoscolex (the head of the larval form of teniids) of an adult bovine tapeworm. In the muscles of cattle, larvae can exist for 1-3 years.
When a person eats beef with invasive larvae, they get into his stomach and further into the intestines. There, under the influence of gastric juice and bile, the protoscolex is freed from the Finns, sucked with suction cups to the intestinal wall and begins to grow.
An adult bovine tapeworm will form in the human body after 2.5-3 months. Most often, 1 worm is found in the patient's intestines.
Diagnostics of the bovine tapeworm
Diagnosis of a bovine tapeworm presents certain difficulties. The fact is that the disease has few specific symptoms by which one could suspect the presence of a parasite in the body.
In this regard, a delicate questioning of the patient is of particular importance to establish the fact that cysticercus crawled out of his anus. It is this symptom that is of great importance in terms of determining the invasion. Very often, patients also notice segments in the feces after the act of defecation.
If it is not possible to find the segments, then a provocation of their release is possible: the use of pumpkin seeds, garlic or a saline laxative.
If there is a suspicion of the presence of a parasitic disease, then the feces are analyzed for eggs and fragments of worm strobila. This analysis is called "coproovoscopy".
Additional survey methods are:
- Thick smear method (Kato method).
- Beneficiation method (Fulleborn precipitation method and Kalantaryan flotation method).
- Perianal-rectal scraping.
- Adhesive tape print.
Since the above examination methods do not make it possible to clarify which tapeworm parasitizes in the human body: pork or bovine, a careful study of mature segments is necessary. So, the lateral branches of the uterus of the bovine tapeworm are in the amount of 18 to 32 pieces. While the uterus of the pork tapeworm of lateral branches on one side will have from 8 to 12 pieces.
Sometimes the worm can be detected during contrast radiography of the small intestine. It has the appearance of light stripes.
As for the general blood test, then an increase in the number of eosinophils, leukopenia and anemia can be found in it. However, these indicators are passing.
Bovine tapeworm treatment
Treatment of bovine tapeworm is reduced to taking antiparasitic drugs. Sometimes it is carried out in a hospital setting, although outpatient therapy for teniarinchiasis is not excluded. Parasitological control of the effectiveness of the therapeutic scheme is mandatory.
The patient is prescribed anthelmintic drugs, the main of which is Fenasal, and the additional one is Biltricid. Fenasal is taken either in the evening after a light dinner, or in the morning on an empty stomach. The dosage is selected by the doctor, on average for an adult it is 2-3 g. Biltricid is also taken once.
After taking the drug, the parasite exits through the anus without any additional measures.
On the eve of treatment and during therapy, a gentle diet is indicated.
It is based on the following principles:
- Exclusion of fatty, fried, smoked, salty and sweet foods;
- The basis of the diet is low-fat soups, rice, buckwheat, fermented milk products, low-fat fish;
- Drinks - jelly, compotes, teas;
- An absolute ban is imposed on beets, cabbage, spinach, grapes, peaches, raspberries, gooseberries, chocolate, coffee, alcohol, apricots, and legumes.
You should eat in small portions, at least 5 times a day.
It is possible to supplement the main therapeutic scheme with phytotherapy. For this purpose, the doctor prescribes capsules with male fern extract, pumpkin seeds. For the period of treatment, the setting of cleansing enemas, the intake of laxatives are indicated.
The criteria for cure are the absence of segments in the patient's feces for 4 months after the therapeutic course. If the segments are found, then the therapy is repeated with the same drugs.
The prognosis for recovery is most often favorable. Doctors try to relieve patients of teniarhynchosis as quickly as possible and observe them for another 3-4 months. In addition, people at risk, such as farm and livestock workers, are screened with particular care.
Prevention of bovine tapeworm
Prevention of bovine tapeworm comes down to the following activities:
- Timely identification of infected persons. For this, once a year, all livestock breeders (milkmaids, shepherds, calves, etc.) and their family members are examined. Workers of meat processing plants and slaughterhouses are subject to examination.
- Complete exclusion of the possibility of eating raw or insufficiently thermally processed cow meat.
- High-quality heat treatment of meat, allowing to kill the larvae of the worm. To do this, it must be boiled or baked in small pieces for 1-3 hours.
- Timely referral to a specialist if symptoms are detected that indicate a possible infection with bovine tapeworm.
- Thorough inspection of meat before purchase. Sometimes the larvae of the worm can be seen even with the naked eye, especially with massive invasion.
- Detection of disease in animals during veterinary and sanitary examination of meat. If the Finns bovine tapeworm are found in meat, then before selling it, it is disinfected by thorough boiling in boilers, subject to certain standards.
- Protecting the environment from contamination with bovine tapeworm eggs. For this, the state services exercise control over the observance of sanitary and hygienic measures at livestock farms and farms. It is important that there are separate toilets for staff.
No less important is educational work among the population, which is aimed at informing people about possible sources of parasitic infestation.
Author of the article: Danilova Tatyana Vyacheslavovna | Infectionist
Education: in 2008 received a diploma in General Medicine (General Medicine) at the Pirogov Russian Research Medical University. Immediately passed an internship and received a diploma of a therapist
