Treatment for both animals and humans is simple and very effective. A prescription drug called praziquantel is given, either orally or by injection (pets only). The medication causes the tapeworm to dissolve within the intestine.
Your health care provider treats a tapeworm infection in the intestines with anti-parasitic drugs. These include: Praziquantel (Biltricide). Albendazole.
The most commonly used medicine for tapeworms is praziquantel (Biltricide). These medications paralyze the tapeworms, which let go of the intestine, dissolve, and pass from your body with bowel movements.
The tapeworm eggs can live in the environment in grass and soil, carpets and dust, so it is hard to eliminate the process of infection as we cannot keep this permanently clean.
Don't eat raw or undercooked meat or fish.
Use a meat thermometer to make sure meat is cooked enough to kill larval cysts. Cook whole meats and fish to at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit (63 degrees Celsius) and let rest for at least three minutes. Cook ground meat to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celsius).
People can pass tapeworm eggs to others when they don't wash their hands after using the bathroom. Tapeworm eggs in feces can then spread into food or onto surfaces like doorknobs.
Symptoms of cysticercosis depend on the location and size of the cysts, and can range from no symptoms at all to tender lumps under the skin to headaches, seizures, stroke or death.
It's important to note that some tapeworm infections don't require treatment. Sometimes, the tapeworm leaves the body on its own. This is why some people never have symptoms or only have mild symptoms. If a tapeworm doesn't leave your body, your doctor will recommend a treatment based on the type of infection.
Tapeworm Treatment and Management
All tapeworms are susceptible to readily available products that contain the ingredient praziquantel. Praziquantel will kill any tapeworms your pet already has, and prevent any immature ones from developing.
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.
However, when used alone, lemons did not suffice as a cure but in combination with standard antimalarials, lemons promoted early parasite clearance with an improved hematological parameters.
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.
Proglottids contain tapeworm eggs; these eggs are released into the environment when the proglottid dries out. The dried proglottids are small (about 2 mm), hard and yellowish in color and can sometimes be seen stuck to the fur around the pet's anus.
Tapeworms evolve in three stages: egg, larva and adult worm. The worm can't survive outside of a living host, but the eggs and larvae can. Eggs pass from the original host through their poop into the local soil and water. There, they contaminate the food and drinking water of other animals.
Long Body, Long Lifespan
Left untreated, adult tapeworms can live in a host body for up to 30 years.
In rare cases, tapeworm segments become lodged in the appendix, or the bile and pancreatic ducts. Infection with T. solium tapeworms can result in human cysticercosis, which can be a very serious disease that can cause seizures and muscle or eye damage. Taenia saginata does not cause cysticercosis in humans.
Tapeworms in dogs can cause serious health issues such as anemia, weight loss, and intestinal blockages if left untreated. If you notice any signs of tapeworms infecting your dog, it is important to see a vet as soon as possible for treatment.
Cysticercosis is an infection caused by the larvae of the parasite Taenia solium. This infection occurs after a person swallows tapeworm eggs. The larvae get into tissues such as muscle and brain, and form cysts there (these are called cysticerci).
The Spirometra tapeworm can live in humans for up to 20 years. A man in China experienced seizures and other mysterious symptoms for years before doctors finally found the cause: He had a rare parasite living in his brain, which had likely been there for more than a decade, according to news reports.
It takes 3 weeks from the time the flea is swallowed to the time tapeworm segments appear on the pet's rear end or stool.
Once inside the larval flea, the tapeworm egg continues to develop as the larval flea matures into an adult flea.
After people eat food contaminated with the tapeworm's eggs, secretions in the stomach cause the eggs to hatch into larvae. The larvae enter the bloodstream and are distributed to all parts of the body, including the brain and spinal cord.