The most common tapeworm infection in Australia is caused by dwarf tapeworm. There is also a risk in Australia of contracting a serious condition called hydatid disease from the eggs of a type of tapeworm called Echinococcus granulosus found in dog faeces (poo).
Pork tapeworm (Taenia solium) and beef tapeworm (Taenia saginata) can be acquired from eating undercooked meat containing cysts of the tapeworm larvae. These infections are not common in Australia, and are usually only acquired overseas.
In Australia, the causative tapeworms are considered endemic in wildlife animals, however, there have been only five reported human infections.
Common parasites and parasitic infections in Australia
Affected by head and body lice, pubic lice and scabies18-20. Several types of helminth worms are associated with gastrointestinal diseases, including whipworm, threadworm, hookworm, and tapeworm.
A tapeworm infection is usually diagnosed by finding eggs or tapeworm segments in the stool. Your doctor may ask you to bring in a sample so a lab can look for eggs, larvae, or tapeworm segments. A blood test can spot antigens, foreign substances that let your doctor know your body is trying to fight the infection.
Anyone who has a tapeworm will need medical treatment to get rid of it. Treatment is about 95% effective and typically takes a few days.
Tapeworm infections usually don't cause complications. Problems that may happen include: Anemia. Long-term infection with a fish tapeworm may lead to the body not making enough healthy red blood cells, also called anemia.
Deworming is not always necessary, but is recommended for children who live in endemic areas once a year when the prevalence of soil-transmitted parasitic worms in the community is over 20% and twice a year when the prevalence of soil-transmitted parasitic worms in the community is 50%.
The most common type of human worm infection in Australia is pinworm. Other names for this parasite include threadworm and Enterobius vermicularis, or the common term 'worms'.
You can easily kill tapeworms with anthelmintic drugs, including praziquantel (Biltricide®), albendazole (Albenza®) and nitazoxanide (Alinia®). Healthcare providers usually recommend praziquantel because it also paralyzes the worm, forcing it to dislodge from your intestinal wall.
Eat more raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets, and carrots, all of which have been used traditionally to kill parasites. In one study, researchers found that a mixture of honey and papaya seeds cleared stools of parasites in 23 out of 30 subjects. Drink a lot of water to help flush out your system.
Both the tapeworm infection, also known as taeniasis, and cysticercosis occur globally. The highest rates of infection are found in areas of Latin America, Asia, and Africa that have poor sanitation and free-ranging pigs that have access to human feces.
Tapeworm infections due to T. solium are more prevalent in under-developed communities with poor sanitation and where people eat raw or undercooked pork.
Tapeworms or tapeworm segments may be visible in the stool when they are passed along with a bowel movement. 2 In particular, a head-like part of the tapeworm that has suckers and hook-like structures that attach to the intestine, called a scolex, may be seen.
You probably won't ever get one. Less than 1,000 people in the U.S. get them a year. It's extremely rare to pick one up from your pet. And if you take the right steps to cook meat, you shouldn't get one from it, either.
Diagnosis of worms
Sometimes, with heavy infections, the thin adult threadworms may be seen on the surface of freshly passed faeces. Sometimes the worms can be seen around the child's anus if examined with a torch at night time. The best method of diagnosis is by the 'sticky tape test'.
In Australia, the worm can infect anyone, but is most common in Indigenous Australian communities, refugees, returning overseas travellers and Vietnam veterans. Estimates suggest the prevalence of infection in Indigenous Australian communities is 35-60%.
Worm infestation can also lead to death.
On the surface, deworming looks like a non-threatening affair, but a lack of it can actually be fatal for you. It is mostly our daily, unhygienic habits that lead to worm infestation.
Not deworming can cause malnutrition, intestinal perforation, death –Paediatricians.
The worms will die after 6 weeks so provided you do not swallow any new eggs then no new worms will grow to replace them. Strict attention to hygiene should be sufficient. Piperazine (Pripsen) is a different medicine, and can be used in children under 2 years (but over 3 months).
Many times, people can be infected for long periods of time without even knowing they have a tapeworm infection. While viral or bacterial infections can disappear in a matter of days or weeks, a tapeworm could be with you for years.
Over the last few years we have all become aware of the health benefits of apple cider vinegar but did you know this fermented apple cider can also work as an effective worm treatment for our four-legged friends.
Although adult tapeworms in the intestine usually cause no symptoms, some people experience upper abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, and other symptoms. Occasionally, people with a tapeworm can feel a piece of the worm move out through the anus or see part of the ribbon-like tapeworm in stool.