Description
Intestinal infection with tapeworm acquired from eating raw or not-well cooked food. Causative organismsinclude; Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm), Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), Diphyllobothrium latum (fishtapeworm) and Hymenolepsis nana (faecal oral contamination from human and dogs) leading to chronic malnutrition (Taeniasis) or infection of tissues with larval parasites (Cysticercosis). The larvae (cysticerci) are most often located in subcutaneous and intramuscular tissue, followed by the eye and brain. The CNS is involved in 60-90% of patients resulting in neurocystercosis.
Further Treatment
• Anti-epileptic drugs if seizure occur. Carbamazepine, phenobarbitone or sodium valproate. Treatment is recommended until the patient has been seizure free for 2 years.
• Osmotic diuretics for Intracranial hypertension.
• Ventricle- peritoneal shunt placement for hydrocephalus