Abstract
BackgroundTapeworms of the genus Spirometra include species whose larval stages can infect humans, causing a disease called sparganosis. Cases of human infection with adult worms are very rare and have been reported in Korea and China. Here we report the first case of human infection with an adult of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei in Vietnam.Case presentationA 23-year-old male was admitted to 103 Military Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam with fever, weight loss and epigastric discomfort. Preliminary diagnosis based on discovery of parasite eggs in his faeces incorrectly determined a fluke as the agent of the infection and praziquantel was prescribed. Two days later he passed out proglottids in his stool. The tapeworm was identified as Spirometra erinaceieuropaei using morphological and molecular tools.ConclusionThis is the first case of human infection with adult worm of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei in Vietnam.
Highlights
Tapeworms of the genus Spirometra include species whose larval stages can infect humans, causing a disease called sparganosis
This is the first case of human infection with adult worm of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei in Vietnam
The definitive hosts are dogs, cats, and some other mammals where adult worms live in the small intestine and produce unembryonated eggs that are discharged in faeces
Summary
Spirometra is a tapeworm genus in the order Diphyllobothriidea [1] that includes several species: S. erinacei (=S. erinaceieuropaei), Sparganum mansoni, Spirometra mansonoides and an aberrant form of Spirometra proliferum [2]. We report a case of human infection with adult of S. erinaceieuropaei identified by its morphology and genetic analysis in Vietnam. With a sixteen-day history of fever the patient was diagnosed with sepsis and treated with a combination of two antibiotics (cefpirome and levofloxacin). He showed no improvement in fever nor abdominal pain. On September 15th, he expelled pieces of tapeworm strobila, with off-white proglottids, wider than long (about 0.3 × 0.8 cm) in his stool (Fig. 2). Based on these morphological characteristics, the parasite was assigned to Spirometra sp.
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