What is the most common parasite
What is the most common parasite |
- See what happens when tapeworms infest your brain - Popular Science
- Parasite Control Begins with Understanding Active Ingredients - Bovine Veterinarian
- Teen dies from tapeworm infection in brain - CBS News
| See what happens when tapeworms infest your brain - Popular Science Posted: 30 Mar 2019 07:34 AM PDT  Tapeworms are revolting no matter where you find them. But when they are in your gut, at least the parasites are in their natural habitat. We are, unfortunately, their primary hosts and, as parasites, their job is to colonize our intestines, shed eggs out our bums, and infect other animals. Normally, they perform this job relatively quietly. They eat your food and hang out inside your guts, but they don't generally want to kill you. That'd reduce their number of potential homes. That's why many people infected with tapeworms stay fairly symptom-free (we regret to inform you that often folks realize they're infected when bits of the worms start coming out in their poop). In the rare event the intestinal infection does cause symptoms, they usually include loss of appetite, weight loss, an upset stomach, and perhaps abdominal pain. But that's all assuming they stay in your gut. As one tragic case report in the New England Journal of Medicine this week shows, that's not always what happens. Tapeworms can get into other parts of your body and cause much more severe symptoms. A teenager in India who had been infected with tapeworms died as a result of numerous cysts—formed by the tapeworms—in his brain (he had them throughout his body as well), which doctors only found when he showed up at the emergency room in Faridabad with generalized tonic-clonic seizures. These full-brain seizures, plus his groin pain, eye swelling, and general confusion are fairly common symptoms for bodily infection with tapeworms. It is possible for tapeworms to migrate out of human intestines, according to the Mayo Clinic, but this kind of full-body infection results from a different disease pathway and is far more common in another animal: pigs. The kind of tapeworm infection an animal gets largely depends on which stage of life the worm is in when you ingest the parasite. Tapeworms, specifically the species Taenia solium, have a life cycle that depends on both humans and pigs (there's also a beef tapeworm, but it doesn't cause bodily cysts). T. solium begins life as an egg inside a human, though it quickly departs out the anus. Pigs who consume either feces or infected water also ingest the eggs. Those eggs travel to the pig's guts, where they hatch, burrow through the intestinal wall, and migrate to the farm animal's muscles and organs. There they become cysts. This kind of infection is known as cysticercosis, which is different from what we'd call "having tapeworms" the way most people get them. Humans usually become infected because they eat undercooked pork with infective cysts, thus leaving the worms (called cysticerci) alive. The cysticerci travel to our guts, where they mature into adult tapeworms roughly 10 feet long, which in turn lay eggs and start the whole process over. Technically, though, as this case study proves, if a human eats the tapeworm eggs, we can get cysts just like pigs. That's what happened to this poor boy—he must've eaten the eggs at some point, gotten infected, and not realized until his body was riddled with cysts. (And please note, you can't get these cyst just from eating undercooked pork.) The specific form of the disease this boy had, neurocysticercosis, is very rare in developed nations because farms in those areas have hygiene standards intended to avoid any potential contamination of both pigs and humans. Unfortunately, that doesn't make it rare worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that roughly 2.5 to 8.3 million people suffer from neurocysticercosis every year, mostly in developing parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Subsistence farmers there don't have access to the same resources to prevent disease, and thus infections are far more common. If you're reading this in a country like the U.S., though, you're highly unlikely to ever even be exposed to tapeworm eggs unless you travel internationally. Consider yourself lucky.  |
| Parasite Control Begins with Understanding Active Ingredients - Bovine Veterinarian Posted: 26 Mar 2019 11:33 AM PDT Using parasiticides in cattle without considering the active ingredients in those products presents dangers for an operation. Using different parasiticide active ingredients can extend the effectiveness of parasite control products and play a significant role in the management of healthier cattle. Some common, yet misguided, management practices can lead to an operation unintentionally increasing resistance in parasites. One type of parasiticide — macrocyclic lactones — saw the first documented case of resistance approximately 14 years ago, and now Cooperia and Haemonchus parasites have been demonstrated as resistant to macrocyclic lactones in more than half of all operations examined.1 Of course parasites must be dealt with, but producers need to find a balance in their management practices. Here are three common active ingredient families and how they work to control parasites:
The judicious use of parasiticides with different modes of action will control parasites in a herd and also help keep products effective longer in the industry. Keep these tips in mind when developing a management plan for parasiticides:
For more information on parasite control products and solutions, talk to your Zoetis representative or visit GetLessParasites.com. 1Gasbarre LC. Anthelmintic resistance in cattle nematodes in the US. Vet Parasitol. 2014;204(1-2):3-11. 2Mechanisms of Action of Anthelmintics. Veterinary Manual website. https://www.merckvetmanual.com/pharmacology/anthelmintics/mechanisms-of-action-of-anthelmintics. Accessed Dec. 27, 2018. 3Safety of Anthelmintics. Veterinary Manual website. https://www.merckvetmanual.com/pharmacology/anthelmintics/safety-of-anthelmintics. Accessed Dec. 27, 2018. 4Resistance to Anthelmintics. Veterinary Manual website. https://www.merckvetmanual.com/pharmacology/anthelmintics/resistance-to-anthelmintics. Accessed Dec. 27, 2018.  |
| Teen dies from tapeworm infection in brain - CBS News Posted: 28 Mar 2019 02:32 PM PDT When a young man in India started having seizures, doctors scanned his brain and found a grim image: His brain was dotted with parasitic cysts — the result of a severe and ultimately fatal tapeworm infection. The 18-year-old man was taken to the emergency room after having so-called tonic-clonic seizures, in which a person loses consciousness and experiences violent muscle contractions, according to a new report of the case. The man appeared confused and had swelling over his right eye. His parents told doctors that he'd also been having pain in his groin for a week. An MRI of his head showed numerous cysts in the outer layer of his brain (known as the cerebral cortex), as well as in his brain stem, according to the report, published today (March 27) in The New England Journal of Medicine. He also had cysts in his right eye and testes. [27 Oddest Medical Case Reports]  The man was diagnosed with neurocysticercosis, a parasitic disease that occurs when a person ingests microscopic eggs from a pork tapeworm (Taenia solium). When the eggs hatch, the larvae can travel throughout the body, including to the brain, muscles, skin and eyes, where they form cysts, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This tapeworm is common in developing nations, including countries in Latin America, Africa or Asia. Neurocysticercosis is one of the most common causes of seizures around the world. The illness can be life-threatening and even fatal. The Indian man's case was particularly severe. The sheer number of cysts in his body meant that he couldn't be treated with anti-parasitic medications, which in severe cases like these, can worsen inflammation in the brain and eyes, potentially leading to brain swelling and vision loss, the report said. The man was treated with steroids and anti-epileptic medications, which are standard treatments for the disease. Unfortunately, doctors couldn't save him, and the man died two weeks later, the report said. According to the WHO, preventing infections with Taenia solium will require a wide range of public health interventions, including improving sanitation, personal hygiene and food safety, as well as better identification and treatment of patients. Originally published on Live Science.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from "What is the most common parasite" - Google News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
Comments
Post a Comment