Taenia saginata

Taenia saginata
• Commonly referred as beef tapeworm
• It infect more than 60 million people word
wide
• The worm have a cosmopolitan
distributions, but more common in
developing countries
• Adult worms are common found in man
• Cattle are the intermediate hosts
• Human beings are the definitive hosts
 Parasitology: Taenia saginata
• Colour:- whitish and semitransparent
• Measurements: 4-10M in length
• At adult stages: contain 20-200 segments
• Scolex: pear shaped, cubical and 1-2mm in diameter with 4 lateral
suckers
• The scolex have no rostellum or hooks
• The suckers and suckers like organs at the apex are pigmented
• The neck is long and half of the width of the scolex
• The older proglottides are elongated
• Gravid proglottides are 3-4 times longer than they are broad
• The genital pore is single and marginally placed at the hind end of the
proglottides
• They posses 20-35 lateral branches on each side of the uterus
• The genital organs in the mature proglottid have 300-400 of testes
• Gravid segment contains 97,000 eggs
 Taenia saginata: Life cycle
• T. saginata oviposits on the perianal skin
• The ova are expelled when the proglottid has detached
itself from the strobila
• The gravid uterus carries lateral branches terminating in
blind club-shaped sacs
• There they form a separate organ resembling a tassel
(thysanus), which, when it disintegrates, leaves behind a
mass of ova
• The thysanus then becomes an aperture for oviposition
(protocostoma)
• The stimulus for oviposition is provided by thousands of
eggs compressed within the uterus
• The yolk mass that envelops the embryophores of the ova
causes them to adhere to the perianal skin
 Taenia saginata: Life cycle
• Gravid proglottids emerge in faeces or pass to the exterior
independently
• They then creep into grass or herbage, where they
disintegrates
• When the eggs are eaten by cattle, the oncosphere are set
free and pass into the small intestine wall
• In the blood circulation are carried to muscles especially
the pterygoids, fatty tissues, heart, diaphragm and tongue
• Then cycticerci (Cysticercus bovis) are formed in cattle
muscles and infected beef is termed as “measly beef”
• Human becomes infected when they eat undercooked beef
containing the cysticerci
• The bladder is digested and liberated scolex, pass to the
small intestines, affixes itself by suckers to the gut wall
• The adult worm develops and forms segments in human
hosts
Life cycle of Taenia saginata
 Epidemiology
• Distribution: world wide
• Prevalence: high in developing countries
• Determinant factors: poor hygiene, unsanitary
dispose of human feaces,poor meat inspection
systems
• T. saginata is common especially in poor
communities where raw or undercooked beef is
traditionally eaten
• Transmission: consuming undercooked beef
infected with Cysticercus bovis
• Highlands of Ethiopia is an area of intense
transmission
 Clinical features
• T. saginata carriers are often aware of motile proglottides
which can be felt emerging from the anus unbidden and
may cause distress
• The gravid segments are also conspicuous in the faeces
because of their motility
• Infections is largely asymptomatic
• If symptoms occurs:- irritable bowel-type symptoms-
abdominal pain, nausea, distension and anorexia
• Occasionally:- worm segments are vomited
• Eosinophilia is not a features of established infections
 Diagnosis and managements
Diagnosis
• Stool samples:- detects the eggs under a light
microscopy
• Eggs of T. saginata stains with Ziehl-Neelsen
stains but those of T. solium they don’t stain
• Intact proglottides can be speciated by the number
of uterine branches
Managements
• Single dose of Praziquantel at 10mg/kg is effective
• Niclosamide is also used
Some characteristics differentiating T. saginata and T. solium
 Proglottids: T. saginata and T. solium

T. saginata has 15 to 20 branches T. solium has 7 to 13 branches

 Scolex: T. saginata & T. solium
• T. saginata • T. solium
• No hooks or rostellum • They posses hooks
• Posses suckers