Although relatively rare because it is usually a disease in animals, humans, especially children and young people, can get tapeworm. It is important to understand the real causes of the symptoms and the treatments for a tapeworm infestation. In this OneHowTo article, we explain more about how to get rid of tapeworm in humans.
- Stool samples from potentially infected person
Tapeworm is a parasite that attaches on to the wall of the small intestine . This usually happens in animals, but can also occur in humans. This can happen when eating raw fish and badly frozen meat such as beef or pork.
These parasites found in food are made up of a head with suction cups to attach themselves, and the body formed by segments or rings which independently produce eggs. The tapeworm is fed by absorbing what the infested person eats and can grow to 10 m in length.
If you have symptoms such as constant diarrhoea, nausea, cramps, abdominal pain or a loss of appetite or weight is observed... you need to visit the doctor. You also need to take a sample of your stools, especially if anomalies are perceived or tapeworm eggs are observed.
Once the proper diagnosis is made, getting rid of tapeworm usually requires anti-parasitic drugs that make it detach from the wall of the intestine where it is anchored.
Normally, praziquantel (Biltricide) is prescribed as a treatment against tapeworm and niclosamide can also be administered under medical prescription. Other common drugs to fight tapeworm in humans are Albendazole (Albenza) and Nitazoxanide (Alina).
The type of medicine you will be described all depends on the kind of tapeworm that has affected your system.
During this treatment, it's vitally important to wash your hands with soap and warm water after going to the toilet, more thoroughly before eating.
It will also be necessary to monitor during the months that follow to verify that the medication really has managed to eliminate the tapeworm and prevent it from reproducing and reappearing, probably by analyzing stool samples so your doctor can check for eggs or larvae.
This article is merely informative, oneHOWTO does not have the authority to prescribe any medical treatments or create a diagnosis. We invite you to visit your doctor if you have any type of condition or pain.
If you want to read similar articles to How to get rid of tapeworm in humans, we recommend you visit our Diseases & secondary effects category.
- If the tapeworms are not completely dead, including the head which binds to the gut, it will grow back.