Tapeworms are flat worms that live in a person's digestive tract.
Though upsetting to think about, they usually don't cause any serious
problems. Tapeworm infections aren't common in the United States and, when they do happen, they're usually easy to treat.
Tapeworm Basics
Tapeworms are parasites. As you probably remember from biology class,
parasites are organisms that live in, or on, other organisms (called
"hosts"). Parasites take their nutrients from the host, sometimes
depriving the host of nutrition.
Tapeworms get into the body when someone eats or drinks something
that's infected with a worm or its eggs. Once inside the body, the
tapeworm head attaches to the inner wall of the intestines. The tapeworm
feeds off the food that the host is digesting. It uses this nutrition
to grow. Tapeworms are made up of segments, and they get longer by growing new
segments. Each segment can reproduce by making thousands of eggs. Since
tapeworms can have more than a thousand segments, that's a lot of
opportunity to spread. They can grow to more than 33 feet (10 meters)
and live as long as 25 years.
New segments grow at the head of the tapeworm, pushing older segments
to the end of the line, where they break off. These segments, along
with the eggs they contain, pass out of the digestive tract in the
host's feces (poop). If the infected feces aren't disposed of in a
sanitary way — like down a flush toilet — they can get into the soil or
water. Tapeworm segments can live for months in the environment, waiting for
a host to come along. Animals like cows or pigs that eat grass or nose
around in the soil can pick up tapeworm segments or eggs. When the
tapeworm reaches the animal's intestine, the attach-and-grow cycle
begins again.
Causes
Most of the time, people get tapeworm infections from eating food that's contaminated and not prepared properly:
- Tapeworms can spread when someone eats or drinks food or water that's contaminated with infected feces. This is one reason why tapeworm infections are rare in places that have good sanitation, like the United States. Flush toilets, sewer systems, and water treatment plants help keep feces out of the water and food supply.
- People can pass tapeworm eggs on to others when they don't wash their hands after using the bathroom. Tapeworm eggs in feces can easily spread into food or onto surfaces like doorknobs. If you ever need another reason to get your kids to wash their hands, this might do it!
- Kids can get tapeworms from eating meat or fish that hasn't been cooked enough to kill the tapeworm or its eggs.
Symptoms
Most kids who have a tapeworm infection don't feel anything. It can
take months or years to notice any symptoms. Some of the things a child
might complain of are:
- mild nausea
- diarrhea
- abdominal pain
- loss of appetite and weight loss
Kids with a tapeworm infection may feel a piece of the worm coming
out through the anus. If your child has an infection, you may see a
tapeworm segment in his or her feces. There are different types of tapeworms. One (fish tapeworm) can cause
anemia because it absorbs vitamin B12, which helps make red blood
cells. This can lead kids to feel tired, short of breath, or have other symptoms of anemia.
The eggs of another type of tapeworm (pork tapeworm) can hatch into
larvae in the intestine. These larvae go through the intestinal wall and
enter the bloodstream. From there they can travel to different parts of
the body (such as muscles, eyes, or the brain), where they form cysts.
This disease is known as cysticercosis. It is rare in the United States, but common in many developing countries. With cysticercosis, kids might develop:
- lumps under the skin
- seizures, if the cysts are in the brain
- vision problems, if the cysts are in the eyes
- an abnormal heartbeat, if cysts are in the heart
- weakness or trouble walking, if cysts are in the spine
Eating contaminated pork can lead to a tapeworm infection in the
intestines, but it won't turn into cysticercosis. To develop
cysticercosis, someone would have to swallow the eggs of the pork
tapeworm, and these eggs aren't found in the meat itself. They are found
in feces and around the anus.
Cysticercosis occurs as a result of eating food that has been
contaminated with feces. It can be any kind of food — all it takes is
for that food to come into contact with feces.
When to Call a Doctor
Call a doctor if you see worms in your child's feces or if he or she
has abdominal pain or other symptoms that might suggest a tapeworm
infection. You'll also want to call a doctor if your child shows signs
of infection after traveling to a part of the world that doesn't have
good sanitation. Call a doctor right away if your child has masses or lumps under the
skin and develops a fever, headache, or any of the other symptoms of
cysticercosis. If your child has seizures or trouble moving, walking, or
talking, go to the emergency room right away.
Source: kidshealth