Two cases of human infection by adult of Spirometra erinacei

Abstract

Two cases of human infection by adult Spirometra erinacei were proved by collection of worms in Korea. The patients were 24 and 21-year old males residing in a mountainous village in Kangwon-do. They had the clinical complaints of abdominal pain and epigastric discomfort, revealing the diphyllobothriid eggs, 53~59 x 37~42 micrometer in size, in their stools. They were treated with 500 mg atabrine and purgated with magnesium salts, and 3~4 hours later several chains of tapeworm segments were recovered from the diarrheal stools. The recovered worms revealed the morphological characteristics of spiral-form or coiled uteri, separated vaginal opening from the cirrus sac, incorporated seminal vesicle into the cirrus sac, distribution of testes at the junction between proglottids, asymmetrical eggs with one pointed eggs, etc. and were identified as Spirometra erinacei(Rudolphi, 1819). The cases had the history of eating raw flesh of the snakes and these are considered the source of infection.