(Photo : Europicsn) Each "plaque" in this X-ray is an individual tapeworm infesting a Chinese man currently under treatment.


It sounds like a classic creature-feature horror film.



A man from Guangdong Province in southeastern China complaining of a stomach ache and persistently itchy skin got the shock of his life when X-rays revealed he was suffering from a full-body tapeworm infestation.



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It's believed the man became infected by eating contaminated sashimi, a Japanese delicacy consisting of raw fish.



The man, whose name has not been released, is under treatment and is expected to recover.



Tapeworm infections are easy to treat with drugs such as Praziquantel and Niclosamide.



Detection, however, can sometimes be very difficult. The symptoms (fatigue, diarrhea, and weakness) can be so mild as to go unnoticed.



Several types of tapeworms are known to infect people: Taenia saginata comes from infected beef, Taenia solium and Taenia asiatica from pork and Diphyllobothrium latum from fish.



Dr Yin of Guangzhou No. 8 People's Hospital, where the man is currently under treatment, told the website that'smags.com that eating uncooked food contaminated with T. solium eggs could cause a potentially life-threatening condition called cysticercosis. This occurs when the adult worms enters a person's blood stream and reaches the brain.



Tapeworm infestation is mostly thought of as an affliction of the digestive track, but larvae of the parasitic genus Diphyllobothrium found in freshwater fish such as salmon can infest any part of the human body and mature into fully-grown tapeworms.



The medical establishment has long been aware of food-borne parasites, and recommends thorough cooking to kill any eggs or larvae. While cases have increased in poorer areas due to bad sanitation, cases have also increased in more developed countries.



In Japan, where sashimi was first developed, tapeworm infections are well-documented. In 2008, 100,000 cases were reported in the city of Kyoto alone. In the United States, it's thought new infections stand at around 1,000 cases per year.



Sashimi, sushi and other dishes with uncooked ingredients, including ceviche, are fast becoming popular across China. With that popularity will inevitably come similar cases of parasites.




Tagstapeworm, sushi, sashimi, parasite