Whenever I travel, one thing I really look forward to is trying new foods. I am sure a lot of people think the same way. The excitement of trying new and exotic foods sounds so good that we may not stop and consider how the food was prepared.
A specific group of food that I am talking about is seafood. There are numerous dishes where some of the seafood consumed is partly raw. Most people acknowledge these risks and few times do people actually get sick. However, it is important to know some diseases or infections that you may get for eating food that was too raw or contaminated. One such infection is called Sparganosis, which is condition most commonly seen in East Asia.
General Description:
Sparganosis is a parasitic infection caused by a diphyllobothroid tapeworm invading the skin, visceral organs, and in some cases the eyes and brain. Diphyllobothroid tapeworms are acquired by ingesting under cooked flesh of infected animals or by drinking infected water. This infection is categorized by the growth of irregular nodules on the skin or other tissues and then become painful and edematous.
Locations:
This infection is spread worldwide, but East Asia and Northeast Asia are the areas most affected by the Sparganosis. Some specific countries where cases have been reported include Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan. There has also been cases in Africa and the Americas, but these are much more rare than cases in East Asia.
Infection Method:
Infection begins by ingesting animal flesh that is under cooked or raw and is infected with sparganum larvae. This can include fish, pork, frogs or snakes. The parasite then migrates out of the intestines and begins to travel throughout the body. There are two methods of infection with this parasite. One method is called the proliferative form and the other is called the nonproliferative form. The more common method is the nonproliferative form. In this case, the worm moves slowly and causes damage as it moves without many symptoms. The more severe case is the proliferative form, in which the infection spreads rapidly and causes cysts to appear more frequently. These two forms are believed to be two different species of the same tapeworm.
 |
| Life cycle of the sparganosis parasite. |
Symptoms:
Symptoms most commonly appear on the skin. As the tapeworms grow, they cause irregular nodules and these nodules will appear and disappear for years to come. These nodules can also become very painful when they appear. When the symptoms spread to the eye some of the symptoms include:
- intense pain
- irritation
- swelling of eyelids
- blindness
When they infection spreads to the brain, some of the symptoms include:
- fatigue
- headaches
- memory loss
- seizures
- coma
- weakened central nervous system
The proliferative form of this infection is the most dangerous kind, as the symptoms affect more organs in the body and all cases have been fatal.
Treatment:
If a patient has nonproliferative sparganum, then can be treated with some anti-parasitic medication and sometimes surgery. In order to diagnose this infection, high resolution imaging is needed like CT or MRI scanning. Surgery however, has proven ineffective when the patient is infected with many sparganum parasites.
There is no treatment for patients that have the proliferative form of this infection.
Final Thoughts:
This infection is dangerous if you do not realize you have it. The good thing is that prevention is very simple. When ever you travel to a region, say in this case Japan, just be careful when consuming meats. If you hiking or exploring the outdoors, be careful when drinking unfiltered water. I personally think that if you follow this advice, then you should not have to worry about this infection. However, if you begin to see nodules or some symptoms as described in this post, do not disregard this infection as a possible diagnosis. This infection has been confused with other diseases so if diagnosed in its early stages, you can prevent the trouble of going through this experience.
I hope this information was useful to all of you! It is important to know about many infections when traveling so that if you were to become infected, you can diagnose it quickly and avoid the trouble. Leave a comment if you have anything to say regarding this infection or if you know of an infection that people should know about.
References:
https://web.stanford.edu/class/humbio103/ParaSites2006/Sparganosis/SPARGANOSIS%20WEBSITE.htm
http://www.isradiology.org/tropical_deseases/tmcr/chapter7/clinical13.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment