Tapeworm infections are rare in Finland, but they are still found every year.
Rebecca Arho had always been slim, but after giving birth it seemed that the weight just dropped and dropped. Vague intestinal symptoms and bloating were annoying.
Because of them, he went to see a doctor already in December 2022.
After that, the weight loss accelerated and this fall it started to feel like no food kept the hunger away. After giving birth, the weight had dropped a total of 20 kilos.
– Still, I looked like I was still pregnant. The stomach was swollen into a ball.
When I saw a thread-like white worm about half a meter long in the stool during a trip to the bathroom this fall, the first reaction was disgust and shock.
– At first I was scared. Then came a feeling of relief that the reason for the symptoms that had lasted for many years might be found.
Tieto was comforting also because Arho had felt tired for years. Everyday life with a small child was busy anyway, but I felt unusually tired at times. In addition, Arho suffered from numbness and tingling symptoms in his hands and feet.
– I had thought that such fatigue was not quite normal. I wouldn’t have suspected at all that the symptoms were about a worm.
Fatigue symptoms were investigated in health care, but no cause was found. Arho was tired even in the sleep study group.
When Arho went to the doctor and told him about his worm observation, he thought it was clear that the symptoms fit the malnutrition caused by a tapeworm infection.
Iltalehti has seen the documents about Arho’s treatment.
Rebekka Arho says that she has always been slim. However, he has lost a lot of weight in recent years. He still didn’t know how to suspect parasite infection. Rebekka Arho’s home album
The swelling disappeared
Tapeworm infection is confirmed by examination of a stool sample, which shows worm eggs or its parts. Arho’s laboratory tests have not been completed yet, but the doctor considered the diagnosis clear because Arho had seen the worm with his own eyes.
The tapeworm is evicted with the drug niclosamide. Arho has taken two doses two weeks apart.
The result of the treatment is confirmed after three months with a microscopic examination of the feces.
Arho says that he has already noticed that the swelling has disappeared and the stomach symptoms have eased. He believes that it will take more time to improve the state of malnutrition. The worm competes with the human body in the intestine for vitamin B12 and reduces its absorption. The doctor urged Arho to consume healthy food, especially vitamin B12.
Rebekka Arho says that fatigue and vague stomach symptoms also bothered her during pregnancy. Rebekka Arho’s home album
A companion for decades
Arho infection is rare in present-day Finland, but tapeworm was common in Finland when uncooked lake fish was still commonly eaten.
According to the Health Library, in the 1940s one in five had tapeworms. In the 1970s, one in twenty carried it. Nowadays, according to the Health Library, infections are diagnosed in less than 50 years. There is no exact information on the prevalence, as tapeworm infections are not reported to THL’s infectious disease register.
You can get roundworm infection by eating raw or poorly cooked non-frozen pike, perch, bream, bream or their roe. You can’t get tapeworms from salmon fish, which also includes muikku.
Once in the human intestine, the tapeworm larva attaches itself to the mucosa of the small intestine. Within about a month, it develops into an adult worm. The worm can live to be over 20 years old and grow over ten meters long.
Arho does not know where the parasite came from and when. A tapeworm can live in a person’s intestine for years in complete peace.
– I have eaten fish over the years, but more salmon than lake fish. Of course, the infection could also have come when traveling abroad.
You can get tapeworm, for example, from poorly cooked pike. Eeva Paljakka
Also asymptomatic
The tapeworm does not necessarily cause any symptoms, but if there are many worms at the same time, they more easily cause vague stomach symptoms: constipation, diarrhea, abdominal swelling and nausea.
General symptoms may include dizziness, weakness, loss of appetite, unusual hunger, weight loss or anemia. Anemia can be associated with disorders of the nervous system.
Arho says that he is not going to stop eating fish, but in the future he prefers to eat his fish cooked.
– At least now the thought of eating all raw fish seems unpleasant. I might take a break for a while.
THE FACTS
This is how you prevent tapeworm
1. Lake fish, pike, perch and haddock, should be cooked properly or frozen. Products and processed products that are intended to be eaten without heating should be frozen. Eating raw unfrozen fish should be avoided.
2. Freezing fish and roe at a minimum of -20 degrees Celsius for 24 hours or -18 degrees Celsius for 4 days destroys the larva.
3. Hot-smoking the fish until it is cooked through or in another way at a temperature of at least +56 degrees Celsius for five minutes destroys the larva.
Source: Food Agency
Sometimes prolonged intestinal symptoms may be caused by an intestinal parasite. Adobe Stock / AOP
The story was published for the first time on October 6, 2023.
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