Rat tapeworm
| Hymenolepis diminuta | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Platyhelminthes |
| Class: | Cestoda |
| Order: | Cyclophyllidea |
| Family: | Hymenolepididae |
| Genus: | Hymenolepis |
| Species: | H. diminuta |
| Binomial name | |
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Hymenolepis diminuta (Rudolphi, 1819) |
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Hymenolepis diminuta, also known as rat tapeworm, is a species of Hymenolepis tapeworm that causes hymenolepiasis. It has slightly bigger eggs and proglottids than H. nana and infects mammals using insects as intermediate hosts. The adult structure is 20 to 60 cm long and the mature proglottid is similar to that of H. nana, except it is larger.
H. diminuta is prevalent worldwide, but only a few hundred human cases have been reported. Few cases have ever been reported in Australia, United States, Spain, and Italy. In countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Jamaica, Indonesia, the prevalence is higher.
The cycle begins as arthropods ingest the eggs. Arthropods are then able to act as the intermediate host. When ingested, the eggs develop into cysticercoids. As shown in the CDC life cycle, oncospheres hatch and then penetrate the intestinal wall. Rodents can become infected when they eat arthropods. Humans, especially children, can ingest the arthropods as well and therefore become infected via the same mechanism. Rodents, especially rats, are definitive hosts and natural reservoirs of H. diminuta. The intermediate hosts are the coprophilic arthropods (fleas, lepidoptera, and coleoptera). As the definitive host (rats) eats an infected arthropod, cysticercoids present in the body cavity transform into the adult worm. The resulting eggs are then passed through the stool. In recent findings, beetle-to-beetle transmission of H. diminuta can be seen via the feces. Additionally, more infections occur due to this mechanism of egg dispersal.
H. diminuta life cycle.
H. diminuta infection in humans is rare, typically occurring in isolated cases. As such, several studies of H. diminuta exist as case reports describing a single affected individual.
In rural Devghar, India, a place heavily infested with rodents and cockroaches, H. diminuta eggs were found in a 12-year-old girl living in a small village. In rural talasri , Maharashtra, India , "H.diminuta " eggs were found in a 26 - year- old male Named Arif Khan , living in small village , Talasri . (ref)shraddha pathology laboratory DR.BIPIN GANDHI—07/09/2016 )
In an urban area of Rome, a 2-year-old boy was also infected by H. diminuta. However, in this instance, investigators found no evidence of rodent or other possible sources of infection in the places habitually occupied by the affected boy.
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Wikipedia