Spirometra erinaceieuropaei
| Spirometra erinaceieuropaei | ||||||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||||
| Spirometra erinaceieuropaei |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Spirometra erinaceieuropaei is a tapeworm that infects domestic animals and humans. In humans infection is called sparganosis.
Causes
Spirometra erinaceieuropaei is a tapeworm that infects domestic animals and humans. In humans infection is called sparganosis. The worm has an interesting lifecycle, the adult worm is present in the small intestine of cats and dogs where it may grow as long as 1.5 meters. Eggs from the worm are passed with the host feces, when they develop into a proceroid larva. This larva may be directly ingested by humans or may enter an intermediate host which include frogs, birds, snakes, rats and mice and become a plerocercoid larva. When cats, dogs, foxes or wolves eat the intermediate host the worm completes its life cycle becoming an egg producing adult. Because humans would normally ingest the worm at the proceroid stage the human is a dead-end host.
Pathogenisis
Life Cycle
Treatment
Antimicrobial therapy
- Sparganosis (Spirometra mansonoides) treatment [2]
- Preferred treatment: Surgical resection or ethanol injection of subcutaneous masses
- Note: Praziquantel 75 mg/kg/day PO qd for 3 days is controversial. It's been inefective in some cases, but has had some results in patients when surgical therapy wasn't an option.[3]
References
- ↑ "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention".
- ↑ Gilbert, David (2014). The Sanford guide to antimicrobial therapy 2014. Sperryville, Va: Antimicrobial Therapy. ISBN 978-1930808782.
- ↑ Lee JH, Kim GH, Kim SM, Lee SY, Lee WY, Bae JW; et al. (2011). "A case of sparganosis that presented as a recurrent pericardial effusion". Korean Circ J. 41 (1): 38–42. doi:10.4070/kcj.2011.41.1.38. PMC 3040402. PMID 21359068.