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Neglected tropical diseases caused by tapeworm infections

Published on August 30, 2022   15 min

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Other Talks in the Series: Neglected Tropical Diseases

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0:00
Hello. My name is Dr. Wendy Harrison from the SCI Foundation. Today I'm going to talk about neglected tropical diseases caused by tapeworm infections.
0:12
During this talk, I'll cover the classification of tapeworms as it relates to neglected tropical diseases, their endemicity, biology and risk factors, the impact of these diseases on communities and economies, diagnosis and treatment, and finally, control and prevention strategies.
0:34
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of diseases that disproportionately affect the most marginalized populations with the least access to services, often in rural areas of low and middle-income countries. They're recognized by the World Health Organization as a distinct grouping. Of these diseases, almost half have an animal host as part of their lifecycle. Therefore, are zoonotic and form a part of a subset of NTDs known as neglected zoonotic diseases. Two of these conditions are caused by tapeworms, Taeniasis / cysticercosis and echinococcosis. This is the subject of the talk.
1:17
Tapeworms known as cestodes are part of the flatworm phylum. The two tapeworms that cause NTDs are in the Cyclophillidea order. In the first part of this talk, I'll focus on taeniasis/cysticercosis, which is caused by Taenia solium.
1:36
As you can see from this WHO endemicity map, there's a high prevalence of Taenia solium in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia. The highest rates of infection are in areas where there is poor sanitation and also a high density of free-roaming pigs.
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