eMedicine Specialties > Pediatrics: General Medicine > Parasitology

Hymenolepiasis: Follow-up

Author: Robert W Tolan Jr, MD, Chief, Division of Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, The Children's Hospital at Saint Peter's University Hospital; Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Drexel University College of Medicine
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Jan 22, 2009

Follow-up

Further Inpatient Care

  • Inpatient care is rarely, if ever, necessary.

Further Outpatient Care

  • Perform follow-up stool examination for ova and parasites 2 weeks and 3 months after treatment to determine whether reinfection or treatment failure has occurred.

Deterrence/Prevention

  • Emphasize good personal hygiene and proper disposal of sewage. Because some rodents can carry the parasite (44% of hamsters in one study), good handwashing after handling pets should be reinforced.
  • Use contact precautions because H nana eggs in stool are infectious.

Prognosis

  • Prognosis is excellent, with or without treatment.

Patient Education

  • Emphasize the importance of good hand washing, personal hygiene, and sanitary living conditions.

Miscellaneous

Medicolegal Pitfalls

  • Failure to consider the diagnosis in the appropriate clinical context.

Special Concerns

  • Consider other parasitic and fecal-oral–transmitted infections when this disease is encountered.
 


More on Hymenolepiasis

Overview: Hymenolepiasis
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Hymenolepiasis
Treatment & Medication: Hymenolepiasis
Follow-up: Hymenolepiasis
References
[ CLOSE WINDOW ]

References

  1. Craig P, Ito A. Intestinal cestodes. Curr Opin Infect Dis. Oct 2007;20(5):524-32. [Medline].

  2. Chero JC, Saito M, Bustos JA, Blanco EM, Gonzalvez G, Garcia HH. Hymenolepis nana infection: symptoms and response to nitazoxanide in field conditions. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. Feb 2007;101(2):203-5. [Medline].

  3. Diaz E, Mondragon J, Ramirez E, Bernal R. Epidemiology and control of intestinal parasites with nitazoxanide in children in Mexico. Am J Trop Med Hyg. Apr 2003;68(4):384-5. [Medline]. [Full Text].

  4. Fox LM, Saravolatz LD. Nitazoxanide: a new thiazolide antiparasitic agent. Clin Infect Dis. Apr 15 2005;40(8):1173-80. [Medline].

  5. Gilles HM, Hoffman PS. Treatment of intestinal parasitic infections: a review of nitazoxanide. Trends Parasitol. Mar 2002;18(3):95-7. [Medline].

  6. Pearson RD. Nitazoxanide As Treatment of Intestinal Parasites in Children. Curr Infect Dis Rep. Feb 2004;6(1):25-26. [Medline].

  7. AAP. Other tapeworm infections (including hydatid disease). In: Red Book: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. 2006:646-7, 813.

  8. Heukelbach J, Winter B, Wilcke T, et al. Selective mass treatment with ivermectin to control intestinal helminthiases and parasitic skin diseases in a severely affected population. Bull World Health Organ. Aug 2004;82(8):563-71. [Medline].

  9. Juckett G. Common intestinal helminths. Am Fam Physician. Nov 15 1995;52(7):2039-48, 2051-2. [Medline].

  10. Kabani A, Cadrain G, Trevenen C, et al. Practice guidelines for ordering stool ova and parasite testing in a pediatric population. The Alberta Children's Hospital. Am J Clin Pathol. Sep 1995;104(3):272-8. [Medline].

  11. Katz M, Despommier DD, Gwadz RW. Tapeworms of minor medical importance. Parasit Dis. 1989;88-92.

  12. Maggi P, Brandonisio O, Carito V, et al. Hymenolepis nana parasites in adopted children. Clin Infect Dis. Aug 15 2005;41(4):571-2. [Medline].

  13. Marangi M, Zechini B, Fileti A, et al. Hymenolepis diminuta infection in a child living in the urban area of Rome, Italy. J Clin Microbiol. Aug 2003;41(8):3994-5. [Medline].

  14. Marseglia GL, Marseglia A, Licari A, Castellazzi AM, Ciprandi G. Chronic urticaria caused by Hymenolepis nana in an adopted girl. Allergy. Jul 2007;62(7):821-2. [Medline].

  15. Mehraj V, Hatcher J, Akhtar S, Rafique G, Beg MA. Prevalence and factors associated with intestinal parasitic infection among children in an urban slum of Karachi. PLoS ONE. 2008;3(11):e3680. [Medline].

  16. Olson PD, Yoder K, Fajardo L-G LF, et al. Lethal invasive cestodiasis in immunosuppressed patients. J Infect Dis. Jun 15 2003;187(12):1962-6. [Medline].

  17. Quihui L, Valencia ME, Crompton DW, et al. Role of the employment status and education of mothers in the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in Mexican rural schoolchildren. BMC Public Health. 2006;6:225. [Medline].

  18. Quihui-Cota L, Valencia ME, Crompton DW, et al. Prevalence and intensity of intestinal parasitic infections in relation to nutritional status in Mexican schoolchildren. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. Nov 2004;98(11):653-9. [Medline].

  19. Richards FO Jr. Diphyllobothrium, Dipylidium, and Hymenolepis species. In: Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 2003:1351-4.

  20. Robertson J, Shilkofski N. Drug doses. In: The Harriet Lane Handbook: A Manual for Pediatric House Officers. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby; 2005:679-1009.

  21. Rokni MB. The present status of human helminthic diseases in Iran. Ann Trop Med Parasitol. Jun 2008;102(4):283-95. [Medline].

  22. Schantz PM. Tapeworms (cestodiasis). Gastroenterol Clin North Am. Sep 1996;25(3):637-53. [Medline].

  23. Tanowitz HB, Wittner M. Hymenolepiasis. In: Hunter's Tropical Medicine. 1991:839-41.

  24. Turner JA. Cestodes. In: Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 2004:2797-816.

  25. Weisse ME, Raszka WV Jr. Cestode infection in children. Adv Pediatr Infect Dis. 1996;12:109-53. [Medline].

  26. Wittner M, Tanowitz HB. Other cestode infections. In: Tropical Infectious Diseases: Principles, Pathogens, and Practice. 1999:1026-30.

[ CLOSE WINDOW ]

Further Reading

[ CLOSE WINDOW ]

Keywords

hymenolepiasis, abdominal pain, anal pruritus, diarrhea, dwarf tapeworm, gastrointestinal infection, GI infection, hand-to-mouth infection, Hymenolepididae, Hymenolepis diminuta, H diminuta, Hymenolepis nana, H nana, nasal pruritus, parasite, parasitic infection, rodent tapeworm, urticaria

[ CLOSE WINDOW ]

Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Robert W Tolan Jr, MD, Chief, Division of Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, The Children's Hospital at Saint Peter's University Hospital; Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Drexel University College of Medicine
Robert W Tolan Jr, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, American Society for Microbiology, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, Phi Beta Kappa, and Physicians for Social Responsibility
Disclosure: GlaxoSmithKline Honoraria Speaking and teaching; MedImmune Honoraria Consulting; MedImmune Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Merck Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Novartis Honoraria Speaking and teaching; sanofi pasteur Grant/research funds Unrestricted research grant; sanofi pasteur  Consulting; sanofi pasteur Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Tap Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Baxter Healthcare Honoraria Speaking and teaching

Medical Editor

Glenn J Fennelly, MD, MPH, Director, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Jacobi Medical Center; Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Glenn J Fennelly, MD, MPH is a member of the following medical societies: Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Mary L Windle, PharmD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: Pfizer Inc Stock Investment from financial planner; Avanir Pharma Stock Investment from financial planner ; WebMD Salary and stock Employment and investment from financial planner

Managing Editor

Martin Weisse, MD, Program Director, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University
Martin Weisse, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Ambulatory Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Daniel Rauch, MD, FAAP, Director, Pediatric Hospitalist Program, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine
Daniel Rauch, MD, FAAP is a member of the following medical societies: Ambulatory Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Society of Hospital Medicine
Disclosure: Baxter Honoraria Consulting; Pfizer Honoraria Consulting

Chief Editor

Russell W Steele, MD, Head, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Ochsner Children's Health Center; Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Tulane University School of Medicine
Russell W Steele, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association of Immunologists, American Pediatric Society, American Society for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Louisiana State Medical Society, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, Society for Pediatric Research, and Southern Medical Association
Disclosure: None None None

 
 
HONcode

We subscribe to the
HONcode principles of the
Health On the Net Foundation

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright© 1994- by Medscape.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

DISCLAIMER: The content of this Website is not influenced by sponsors. The site is designed primarily for use by qualified physicians and other medical professionals. The information contained herein should NOT be used as a substitute for the advice of an appropriately qualified and licensed physician or other health care provider. The information provided here is for educational and informational purposes only. In no way should it be considered as offering medical advice. Please check with a physician if you suspect you are ill.