Tapeworm!

[Rich One]

A new debate on where in the world head lice are more prevalent....!! jejejeje

The subject was Tapeworm, in case you suffer from a case ot Taeniasis or other forms of Triconomas I used Mebutar capsules (Mebendazol- Tinidazol) , Andromaco Laboratories. Sold without prescription for all intestinal parasites.

 

[sesamosinsal]

t's a problem I never heard of when I was in school in the US and I've never known anyone there who experienced it.

When I was a kid, I first went to an elementary school in a U.S. city, and I had never heard of lice at that time. When I turned 10, we moved to a more rural area in the Midwest, and there were outbreaks of head lice at least once every year.

 

[robwerwe]

I spotted a tape worm in some fish I bought in BA luckily I saw it before I cook it!

 

[el_expatriado]

These kinds of infestations seem to be pretty common in Argentina, especially in poor areas with bad hygiene. My wife went to a home for abused children in the province to volunteer and one of the girls there was infected with scabies. For the last week or two we've been disinfecting everything, she's been using creams, etc, and we are hoping she was not infected.

This story doesn't surprise me at all. Once you leave the city the hygiene is pretty much zero.

 

[HoboZero]

HoboZero,
What symptoms if any did you have prior to finding out about the worms? Sorry to hear about this.

The truth is that I had no symptoms and because it could have been with me for years, any number of stomach aches I had might have been related. This all came about when I realized that I also had pinworm. I know. Gross. This is common in all countries, including the UK and the US, but much more prevalent in Argentina. It is contracted from ingesting the nearly indestructible eggs that are often lodged under people's fingernails. You are risk dining at any kitchen where food is prepared without gloves. This includes high end restaurants in BsAs (and elsewhere).

The pinworms themselves are harmless, though an annoyance in a more severe infection brought on by a compromised digestive system or carbohydrate rich diet. I got this infestation in Argentina and took an over-the-counter remedy to eradicate them. What I did not know at the time is that your home and those in it are likely contaminated for the next few weeks with the eggs. You have to redose in a couple weeks to kill off the next round and still might not be rid of them entirely.

They re-appeared here in the states and so I educated myself about it and went to war. It was after taking the anti-worm medication for the pinworm and paying attention to what came out of me that I discovered the tapeworm. Normally detection of the little beasties requires testing of several stool samples to check for eggs.

Sorry for the graphic descriptions, but as loathe as many Argentines might be to admit it, the health enforcement is practically non-existent, though better than some of its neighbors. Your 200 peso meal probably has critters in it.

There are herbal and dietary things you can do to regularly try and rid yourself of parasites, but a tapeworm infection usually requires medication. As stated by myself and reiterated by others here, the pork variety can be lethal at worst and often causes brain and organ damage.

 

[perpetualholiday]

Wow. That's gross. At least you know what's going on and can now get rid of it.
I can't say I'm surprised, though, as everytime I'm in a bathroom, I watch numerous people go in the stall, do their thing, leave the stalls and then leave the bathroom. No washing of the hands at all. My coworkers comment on the same thing.
I do also notice that covering the mouth and nose when sneezing and/or coughing isn't always a given either.
Shortly after I arrived here, I saw a guy blowing a snot rocket directly onto the floor while waiting in the checkout aisle in Disco. Seriously. Since then, nothing has surprised me.

 

[davonz]

I find it funny how ignorant people are. All of you have some sort of worms in you. And when you come in contact with others in a confined space you will have a very good change of getting them. Just lock a whole lot of people up in a subway train, with one person who has pin head worms, the eggs can stick to the infected persons clothes and those egg can come loose and start floating around and be breathed in by you.

The pork worms are a problem, because as stated infect the brain and cause seizures. There has been outbreaks in the states too, so isnt just confined to countries like arg, but you are more likely to come into contact with the worms in countries where they dont have as good a food/restaurant/shop inspections. There was an outbreak a few years ago in new york where alot of jews got infected - these were well off people. It turned out that it had come from a central american maid who worked for one family.

The reason that people become infected was because they dont cook their meat properly - high enough temp for long enough period, and because people dont wash their hands after going to the loo or before handling food.

I have even had friends whos dog was rubbing it bum on the carpet, and they had no idea it was because their dog had worms. And they let their kids play on that same carpet.

As for lice, they prefer clean hair, so dont blame poor dirty people.

Anyways people have become so removed from where their food comes from, or how it is produced, processed, that they dont know about this sort of thing anymore. How many of you guys take de-worming pills yearly ?

 

[arlean]

Lice are common in the States. My children went to good private elementary school and even I had lice--from the kids, of course. They seem to me to come in cycles. You don't hear about it for a long time and then all of a sudden parents are reporting lice. If your kids stay over in a home with a friend, and there are pinworms in the family (which are extremely common), there is a good chance they will get them. It happens in the best of families. The tapeworm sounds gross. I have heard that it isn't a good idea to eat pork. My daughter went to a nutritional conference (she's a licensed nutritionist) and heard that even if you cook pork to a crisp and put it under a microscope you can still see stuff moving around in it. Her brother says he doesn't believe it (not that that's important--just that it's incredible).

 

[Crema Americana]

What a terrible experience - I'm sorry this happened to you and hope you are quickly cured and make a speedy recovery.

All the more reason to eat everything WELL DONE.

And I've had head lice... in Spain. My cousin brought it home from school and since we often were close, I picked it up. Head lice was never an issue when I was in school in the US, but it has made a comeback. Lice checks are regular occurrences there. The main difference I think is that in the US, if you have lice you are sent home until you're clean and they check everyone. Here, I've been told that'd be discriminatory. So there you have it - even when a child is known to have lice, they don't do much about it except let the parents know.

I've heard of meningitis, scarlet fever, scabies, and a host of other "third world" type diseases that affect school children here - especially out here in provincia. But these things are becoming more common in the US, too. Whooping cough, measles, tb, and even bed bugs are all coming back. I don't know if these diseases are getting stronger or if people simply aren't getting their vaccines.

 

[arlean]

Lice are common in the States. My children went to good private elementary school and even I had lice--from the kids, of course. They seem to me to come in cycles. You don't hear about it for a long time and then all of a sudden parents are reporting lice. If your kids stay over in a home with a friend, and there are pinworms in the family (which are extremely common), there is a good chance they will get them. It happens in the best of families. The tapeworm sounds gross. I have heard that it isn't a good idea to eat pork. My daughter went to a nutritional conference (she's a licensed nutritionist) and heard that even if you cook pork to a crisp and put it under a microscope you can still see stuff moving around in it. Her brother says he doesn't believe it (not that that's important--just that it's incredible).