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Taenia solium (Pork Tapeworm)
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Jul 10, 2025
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One of the scariest parasites that can
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invade your body is the pork tapeworm.
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So, let's learn about it. Welcome to
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Wild but True. I'm your host Malcolm
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Walker. This parasite is called
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tineiaolium and the disease it causes is
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called cyus circuses. Neuroscyeresis is
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a more severe form of this disease where
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the larae migrate to the brain causing
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seizures and other neurological
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problems. Imagine having a worm in your
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brain that can cause seizures and even
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kill you. That's how scary this parasite
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is. But how do you get infected? Well,
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the primary way is by eating undercooked
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pork that contains the larae of the
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tapeworm. The larae are released in the
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intestine and then they travel to
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different organs through the blood
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vessels where they form cysts. These
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cysts are called cytoeri.
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They can be found in the muscles, the
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heart, the lungs, the liver, the kidney,
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the eye, and even the brain. The cysts
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can grow to be quite large, up to 1 cm
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in diameter. They can stay in the host
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for many years, causing problems like
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abdominal pain, headaches, and even
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mental illness. But how does someone get
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the tapeworm in the first place? Well,
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the eggs of the tapeworm are passed in
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the feces of an infected person. So if
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you have poor hygiene and you come into
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contact with these feces, you can become
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infected. Also, if you work in a
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slaughter house and you don't cook the
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meat properly, you can also become
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infected. And even if you have a pet pig
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that isn't properly cooked, you can get
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the tapeworm from it, too. This is why
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it's important to always cook pork
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thoroughly. If you travel to a country
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where this disease is common, it's
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important to be extra cautious. Always
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wash your hands thoroughly after using
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the toilet and before eating. Don't eat
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pork unless it's been cooked well and
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avoid using night soil as fertilizer for
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crops. This is a common practice in some
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countries, but it can put you at risk of
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getting this parasite. You can have
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symptoms for weeks, months, or even
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years before you seek medical attention.
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And when you finally go to see the
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doctor, diagnosing the disease can be
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tricky. It can mimic other conditions
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like epilepsy or schizophrenia. Even
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imaging techniques like MRI can be
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misleading because they may not show any
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abnormalities in the brain. The gold
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standard for diagnosing neuroscyesis is
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actually doing a biopsy of the brain to
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look for the presence of the parasite.
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But obviously no one wants to have a
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hole drilled into their brain just to
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diagnose a possible tapeworm infection.
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So what we do is we rely on clinical
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suspicion and response to treatment. If
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someone has a history of traveling to an
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endemic area and they present with
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symptoms of the disease, we might treat
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them for it without even doing a biopsy.
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And there are three main drugs we use to
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treat this disease. The first one is
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Pratziquantel. It's the main drug we
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use. It works by paralyzing the worms so
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they can be isoly expelled from the
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body. The second drug is coreroids. Use
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these drugs to reduce inflammation in
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the brain caused by the death of the
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worms. The third drug is anti-seizure
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medications. These are used to control
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the seizures caused by the parasite.
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Fortunately, this disease is still
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common in many parts of the world. In
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fact, it affects over 50,000 people each
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year. Most of these cases occur in
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Mexico, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
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So, if you enjoyed this video, please
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share it with your friends and
#Infectious Diseases
#Neurological Conditions