After discovering tapeworms every time she went to the toilet, Ms. Ha (name has been changed), 27 years old, living in Hanoi , quickly bought some medicine to take. However, a few months later, Ms. Ha continued to have tapeworms every time she went to the toilet, so she decided to go to the hospital.
Directly examining the patient, Dr. Le Van Thieu - Department of General Infections, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases said that the results of the parasite test for 8 types of worms and parasites showed that this female patient was positive for 6 types.
"Test results showed that the patient was positive for many common types of worms such as: strongyloidiasis, roundworms, large liver flukes, small liver flukes, beef tapeworms... Although the patient had taken deworming medicine before, because the worm heads were still in the digestive system, they continued to multiply," said Dr. Thieu.
The habit of eating raw vegetables caused the girl to be infected with many types of worms (Photo: Getty).
Through medical history, patient Ha shared that although she did not eat blood pudding, she often ate raw vegetables. Dr. Thieu determined that this was most likely the source of parasitic worms for the patient.
In clinical practice, Dr. Thieu said that he often receives patients infected with worms due to daily living habits and unhygienic eating. These cases are often infected with many different types of worms at the same time.
"Apart from some types that penetrate the skin, most worms are transmitted through food. The common cause is that patients eat undercooked food or unhygienic food containing eggs or larvae of worms, which can cause infection," said Dr. Thieu.
Close-up of liver flukes in the human body ( Video source: Microhub Plus).
Typically, liver flukes are often transmitted to humans when eating uncooked aquatic vegetables such as Vietnamese coriander, watercress, water celery, etc. In addition, not only blood pudding, raw vegetables, salads, the habit of eating rare meat dishes also puts people at risk of parasitic worm infection.
"Beef tapeworms often parasitize in lean beef and especially in internal organs. In addition, they can parasitize in some other animals such as pigs. Therefore, if we eat dishes made from undercooked beef and pork, we are at risk of infection with tapeworms.
Rare beef pho or rare beef hotpot, rare beef steak are favorite dishes that can cause diners to be infected with tapeworms. In addition, eating fermented pork rolls that are not sour enough can also put you at risk," Dr. Thieu warned.
When worms enter the body, they can cause many health problems. When tapeworms enter the body, they often parasitize the digestive system. Here, the worms absorb nutrients and develop, they exist for a long time because the worm's body is resistant to protein-digesting enzymes in the small intestine. Tapeworms take up food, weaken the body, and cause damage to the intestines, enteritis, and digestive disorders...
Meanwhile, liver flukes when entering the body through the digestive tract and residing in the liver often create liver abscesses.
With pork tapeworm disease, from the intestine, the tapeworm larvae will invade the blood vessels and migrate everywhere, causing hard nodules in the muscles, most commonly in the subcutaneous tissue, brain and eyes. In this case, humans are the intermediate host. Pork tapeworm cysts can cause meningitis, brain damage causing epilepsy, vision loss or blindness...
To prevent infection with worms, Dr. Thieu recommends that people follow these principles:
- Food hygiene, do not eat raw or rare meat, do not eat infected meat.
- Eat cooked food and drink boiled water.
- Detect and remove worms promptly if infected.
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