What is a tapeworm?
A tapeworm is a flat, parasitic worm that lives in the intestines of an animal host. It commonly infects many different animals, including humans, livestock and domestic cats and dogs (usually meat-eating mammals.)
Like other parasites, the mature tapeworm can only survive inside the host animal, feeding off of the host’s own nutrients. The head attaches to the inside of your intestines and absorbs nutrients from the food digesting there.
Meanwhile, the body continues to grow and lay eggs. The eggs pass through the intestines of the host animal and out of their body in their poop. This is how the eggs will find their new host.
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What do tapeworms look like?
The tapeworm gets its name from its flat shape, resembling a tape measuring ribbon. The body grows in segments. The tapeworm has three distinct parts: a head, which attaches to the host, an unsegmented neck, where new body segments generate from, and the segmented lower body.
Each body segment produces its own eggs. In some species, the segments break off with the eggs to pass through the intestines of the host in their poop. The segments look like little grains of white rice. Segments in poop are often the first visible sign of a tapeworm infection.
What is a tapeworm infection?
Tapeworm infection comes in two forms:
Intestinal tapeworms
Intestinal tapeworms are adult tapeworms that have hatched and matured inside the intestines of a host animal. The mature tapeworms attach to your intestinal walls and absorb nutrients from the food digesting there. These tapeworms often cause no noticeable symptoms, and many people don’t realize they're infected. However, a severe infection can cause nutritional deficiencies, unexplained weight loss, nausea or diarrhea. Some tapeworms can live up to 30 years and grow up to 30 feet long.
You might hear your healthcare provider refer to your tapeworm infection as “taeniasis.” This term refers to an infection by tapeworms from the genus Taenia. Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm) and Taenia asiatica (Asian tapeworm — also from pork) are all species that target humans as their definitive host. However, other species also infect human intestines, including Diphyllobothrium latum (fish tapeworm) and Hymenolepis nana (dwarf tapeworm — a smaller variety).
Invasive tapeworm larval infection
An invasive larval infection can happen if tapeworm larvae in your intestines migrate outside of your intestines and enter your bloodstream and other organs. The larvae adhere to your insides and form cysts there — pockets of fluid that grow around the larvae as they grow. These cysts can cause a variety of complications, depending on where they are. Cysts in your lungs, liver or heart can grow big enough to disrupt those organs’ normal functioning. Cysts that adhere to your spinal cord or brain can cause neurological symptoms, such as seizures.
You can have a larval infection with or without an intestinal tapeworm. The pork tapeworm Taenia solium causes both intestinal infections and invasive larval infection. (The larval infection is known as cysticercosis.) Other tapeworm species only infect humans as larvae. These infections go by different names depending on the species — cystic hydatid disease (echinococcosis), alveolar disease, sparganosis and coenurosis — but they all manifest in the same way, as cysts. Some cysts don’t cause any trouble, but some do and you may need someone to remove them.
How common is tapeworm infection in humans?
Tapeworm infection occurs around the world, particularly in countries where people commonly eat raw meat and fish and where sanitation is less rigorous. In the U.S., tapeworm infection is rare, but U.S. citizens can get an infection while traveling and bring it back with them. Worldwide, tapeworm infection rates are difficult to measure. Tapeworms often cause no noticeable symptoms, and many countries lack the resources to diagnose everyone who has symptoms. They may be more common than we can tell.
FAQs
They live in your intestines and feed off the nutrients you eat. Symptoms can include nausea, weakness, diarrhea and fatigue, or you may not have symptoms. You may see eggs or worm pieces in your poop. Once you find a tapeworm, it's easy to get rid of it.
What causes tapeworm infection? ›
The main risk factor for tapeworm infection is eating raw or undercooked meat and fish. Dried and smoked fish also may have larval cysts in them. Poor hygiene. Poor handwashing increases the risk of getting and spreading infections.
How did you most likely become infected with tapeworm? ›
You can be infected with tapeworm larvae by eating raw or undercooked meat, such as beef, pork, or fish, or drinking contaminated water. You may also come into contact with tapeworm eggs after handling food, water or objects that have been contaminated with dog faeces from an infected dog.
How long do tapeworm infections last? ›
Left untreated, adult tapeworms can live in a host body for up to 30 years. Their length varies, but they can grow to be anywhere from 6 to 22 feet.
What happens if a tapeworm goes untreated? ›
In rare cases, tapeworms can lead to serious complications, including blocking the intestine, or smaller ducts in the intestine (like the bile duct or pancreatic duct). If pork tapeworm larvae move out of the intestine, they can migrate to other parts of the body and cause damage to the liver, eyes, heart, and brain.
How do you get rid of tapeworm infection? ›
How do you get rid of a tapeworm? 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.
How do I tell if I have tapeworms? ›
Tapeworms can cause digestive problems including abdominal pain, loss of appetite, weight loss, and upset stomach. The most visible symptom of taeniasis is the active passing of proglottids (tapeworm segments) through the anus and in the feces.
How to get rid of tapeworms naturally? ›
In addition to papaya seeds, there are also claims of other natural dewormers. These include garlic, pumpkin, and ginger. These herbs have had antiparasitic effects in some animals, but more research is needed to confirm the benefits in humans.
Will tapeworm go away on its own? ›
Sometimes you don't need to do anything about a tapeworm. It could leave your body on its own. But if your doctor finds it, they can prescribe a medicine like praziquantel or nitazoxanide. These will either kill the adult worms or cause you to poop them out.
How to get rid of parasites in your body? ›
Some infections clear on their own, but most people need prescription antiparasitic drugs to get rid of intestinal parasites. These drugs work by paralyzing parasites, stopping their growth, or killing the parasite or its eggs.
Garlic, honey, pumpkin seeds, and papaya seeds are all touted as antiparasitic foods to include in your diet. Some natural practitioners go a step further and recommend a grain-free, sugar-free diet. Others recommend limiting fruit intake in order to further reduce dietary sugars.
How to detox from tapeworms? ›
Natural remedies for tapeworms
- Garlic. Garlic has antiseptic, anti-fungal, and antibacterial properties that can help get rid of parasitic worms and microbes in the body. ...
- Papaya. Papaya has some anthelmintic properties when unripe. ...
- Neem. ...
- Turmeric. ...
- Cloves.
Signs and Symptoms
Diarrhea. Nausea or vomiting. Gas or bloating. Dysentery (loose stools containing blood and mucus)
What are the most common ways to get tapeworms? ›
Most people with a tapeworm infection got it by:
- eating raw or undercooked beef, pork, or fish infected with tapeworm. or.
- contact with poop that contains tapeworm eggs. People can pass tapeworm eggs to others when they don't wash their hands after using the bathroom.
Taeniasis in humans is a parasitic infection caused by the tapeworm species Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm), Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), and Taenia asiatica (Asian tapeworm). Humans can become infected with these tapeworms by eating raw or undercooked beef (T. saginata) or pork (T.
How is the tapeworm disease transmitted? ›
solium taeniasis is acquired by humans through the ingestion of the parasite's larval cysts (cysticerci) in undercooked and infected pork. Human tapeworm carriers excrete tapeworm eggs in their faeces and contaminate the environment when they defecate in open areas.
How to get rid of tapeworms in humans naturally? ›
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.
