Tapeworm Essay

Important tapeworm parasites of humans

Cestoda is a class of phylum platyhyelminthes. The best-known species of this class are called tapeworms. This is a class of parasitic flatworms, their life histories are vary but they mostly live in the digestive tracts or gut of humans and other vertebrates as adult, and sometimes they are present in the bodies of animals as juveniles. All cestodes contain atleast one and often more than one host. They lack digestive tract, mouth and senory organs, they have unique body extension called microtiches which help in absorption of host nutrients. They have scolex which is provided with suckers and often with hooks for attachment. More than 10,000 species of tapeworms are known to science. The most common species of tapeworm in humans are fish tapeworm, beef tapeworm, pork tapeworm, dwarf tapeworm, dog tapewom, uniocular hydatid and multiocular hydatid.

1. Diphyllobothrium latum- Fish Tapeworm

Fish tapeworm is the fairly common parasite of humans. It causes parasitic infection called diphyllobothriasis. The person get infected when he takes the raw

It bthe type of parasitic infection by tapeworm. This is one of common disease occur in most areas of the world. It also require two hosts, definitive host-carnivores and intermediate hosts- sheep and cattle. Humans are accidental hosts, because they are a dead end of this infection. Humans are infected by handling soil, dirt or animal hair that contains eggs of this tapeworm..In humans they are localized in the liver in most of the cases and in other organs of bodies such as spleen, brain heart and kidney. The disease occur with slow-growing mass this mass is called cysts. The patient may be asymptomatic even if cysts are peresent. But if they occur then include cough, shortness of breaths and pain in chest. It is diagnosed by different combination ofd tools and techniques i.e, histopathology,