eMedicine Specialties > Pediatrics: General Medicine > Parasitology

Taenia Infection: 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
Coauthor(s): Michael D Nissen, MBBS, BMedSc, FRACP, FRCPA, Associate Professor in Biomolecular, Biomedical Science & Health, Griffith University; Director of Infectious Diseases and Unit Head of Queensland Paediatric Infectious Laboratory, Sir Albert Sakzewski Viral Research Centre, Royal Children's Hospital
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Jan 23, 2009

Follow-up

Further Inpatient Care

  • Admit the patient if complications such as intestinal obstruction arise because of intestinal taeniid infection.
  • See Cysticercosis and Neurocysticercosis for information on further inpatient care for these diseases.

Further Outpatient Care

  • Following treatment, patients should carefully examine stools for proglottid elimination during the next 5 weeks for T solium infection and for 3 months for T saginata infection.

Deterrence/Prevention

  • Individuals should avoid eating inadequately cooked beef or pork.
  • Examine the stools of potentially infected individuals for taeniid infection and provide treatment if test results are positive.

Complications

  • Appendicitis
  • Cholecystitis
  • Pancreatitis
  • Intestinal obstruction
  • Tubo-ovarian abscess (rare)
  • Systemic cysticercosis

Prognosis

  • Treatment with praziquantel reportedly provides cure rates of 99-100%.

Patient Education

  • Educate patients and families about routes of infection and preventive measures.
  • Teach patients and families proper sanitary and personal hygiene measures.

Miscellaneous

Medicolegal Pitfalls

  • Initially missing the diagnosis of intestinal taeniasis is possible, especially in the United States, where cases are infrequent. Patients whose conditions are misdiagnosed risk major complications, such as cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis (NCC). Obtain a travel history for patients with suggestive lesions.
  • Although inappropriate treatment for intestinal taeniasis is less likely to occur than an incorrect diagnosis, it remains a potential issue, even when the diagnosis is correctly made. To help ensure appropriate treatment, consult an infectious diseases specialist for suggested intestinal taeniasis, cysticercosis, and NCC.
  • Adverse reaction to treatment is a potential medicolegal pitfall that can be avoided by following established standards of care and obtaining proper patient histories. Ascertain whether a patient with a taeniid infection previously received antiparasitic drugs and, if so, whether administration of the drugs caused problems. Failure to do so could result in the patient having an adverse reaction to a prescribed medication.

Special Concerns

  • Patients with taeniid infections may also have other parasitic infections. Many regions where Taenia species are endemic also are endemic for other parasites. After treatment for taeniasis, observe patients for symptoms of other parasitic infections.
  • To prevent reinfection, identify the source and treat patient contacts.
 
Acknowledgments

The authors and editors of eMedicine gratefully acknowledge the contributions of previous author, Renu Vohra, MD, to the development and writing of this article.



More on Taenia Infection

Overview: Taenia Infection
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Taenia Infection
Treatment & Medication: Taenia Infection
Follow-up: Taenia Infection
Multimedia: Taenia Infection
References
Further Reading
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Further Reading

For more information, see the McGill Faculty of Medicine Web site images 16, 46, and 47.  An interesting case is available at The Gorgas Course in Clinical Tropical Medicine and another at Partners.org.

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Keywords

Taenia infection, appendicitis, beef tapeworm, cattle tapeworm, cerebral coenurosis, coenurosis, cysticercosis, edema, encephalitis, hemiparesis, hydrocephalus, intracranial hypertension, intracranial pressure, intraocular larva, muscular pseudohypertrophy, neurocysticercosis, NCC, ocular cysticercosis, papilledema, parasitic infections, pork tapeworm, pruritus ani, stroke, Taenia brauni, T brauni, Taenia multiceps, T multiceps, Taenia saginata, T saginata, Taenia serialis, T serialis, Taenia solium, T solium, taeniasis, taeniid infection

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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

Coauthor(s)

Michael D Nissen, MBBS, BMedSc, FRACP, FRCPA, Associate Professor in Biomolecular, Biomedical Science & Health, Griffith University; Director of Infectious Diseases and Unit Head of Queensland Paediatric Infectious Laboratory, Sir Albert Sakzewski Viral Research Centre, Royal Children's Hospital
Michael D Nissen, MBBS, BMedSc, FRACP, FRCPA is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Society for Microbiology, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Ashir Kumar, MBBS, MD, FAAP, Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University; Consulting Staff, Department of Pediatrics, EW Sparrow Hospital
Ashir Kumar, MBBS, MD, FAAP is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, American Federation for Clinical Research, American Society for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases Society of America, and 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

Leslie L Barton, MD, Professor, Program Director, Department of Pediatrics, University of Arizona School of Medicine
Leslie L Barton, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, Association of Pediatric Program Directors, Infectious Diseases Society of America, 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

 
 
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