Two-meter-long tapeworms crawl out of man's body

The man lives in Binh Duong province,Sometimes he found flat white segments about 3-4 cm long coming out with his stool. Sometimes, even when he didn't have a bowel movement, he still found white segments.

Examination at the Institute of Malaria, Parasitology and Entomology in Ho Chi Minh City on May 15, doctordiagnosed the patient with adult tapeworm infection and prescribed deworming. More than 3 hours aftertake medicine, patient purgeout two worms about 2.5 and 1.5 m long.

According to doctors,This is a rare case of simultaneous infection with two adult tapeworms, usually only one worm can be expelled.

Every day, the Institute of Malaria, Parasitology and Entomology receives several patients infected with worms. Recently, doctors removed a 6-meter-long worm from a 21-year-old man and a 5.2-meter-long worm from a 27-year-old female patient.

Adult tapeworms often have no obvious symptoms. Some patients have a slight abdominal pain, occasional digestive disorders, and slight weight loss if nutrition is poor. The tapeworm can live for 5-10 years without the patient knowing.

Adult tapeworms are not too dangerous, except in cases where the tapeworms travel upstream to the stomach, break off and release eggs, which then become pork tapeworm larvae. Pork tapeworm larvae will cause different clinical symptoms depending on the location of the parasite.

If the cyst is in the muscle, there will be small, firm tumors, about 1-2 cm in size, easily mobile, not itchy, not painful. If the cyst is in the brain, the patient may have epilepsy, paralysis of the arms, legs or half of the body, slurred speech, memory disorders or severe headaches. If the cyst is in the eye, it can cause increased intraocular pressure, decreased vision or blindness.

To know if you have tapeworm or pork tapeworm, you need to rely on symptoms such as passing tapeworm segments, digestive disorders, prolonged abdominal pain... and tests. Pork tapeworm is cured with the drugs Praziquantel and Albendazole.

To proactively prevent tapeworm and pork tapeworm larvae, people need to eat food that has been thoroughly cooked and processed hygienically. Do not use sick pork to prepare food. Do not eat rare or undercooked pork, raw fermented pork rolls, or unhygienic raw vegetables.

Manage fresh manure, especially in areas where people are infected with adult pork tapeworms. Use sanitary latrines. Do not raise free-range pigs. People with adult intestinal worms must be treated and do not defecate indiscriminately.