• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 1998

Recently there have been frequent reports on human infection caused by the Diphyllobothridae in Korea. The adequate opportunities for Koreans to eat raw fish, the primary infection medium of cestodes and the human infection through drinking water by cyclops, the first intermediate host are believed to be main reasons for the infection. The first task of this study was to classify and diagnose the species by differentiating morphological characteristic between scolex and proglottids of cestodes. However, the initially available diagnosis was done with the patient's symptoms and the eggs obtained from his stool. It is important to differentiate the species by the eggs of Diphyllobothrium latum especially in that it can help get advance information for a more reliable analysis in the near future. The morphological and diagnostic results from proglottids and eggs of Diphyllobothrium latum, Diphyllobothrium latum parvum and Spirometra erinacei are as follows； In each kind of cestodes from the patient's stool, the shape and size of 50 eggs were measured. Eggs of Diphyllobothrium latum had an operculum and were ovoidal or ellipsoid to elliptical in shape. Eggs of Diphyllobothrium latum parvum were more ovoidal in shape and smaller in size than Diphyllobothrium latum. And eggs of Spirometra erinacei were asymmetrical in width and long and slender in shape. The average lengths and widths of Diphyllobothrium latum, Diphyllobothrium latum parvum and Spirometra erinacei were 61.4$\times$41.7 $\mu\textrm{m}$, 55.9$\times$41.4 $\mu\textrm{m}$ and 66.7$\times$36.4 $\mu\textrm{m}$, respectively. After the segments of each cestode were fixed, embedding and hematoxylin-eosin dyeing on a microtome-made specimen were done. The micrographs of the semicon's aceto-carmine dyed specimen showed that Diphyllobothrium latum and Diphyllobothrium latum parvum had a centrally-located genital gland and an opened uterine pore. The yolks were observed on both sides of proglottids and had a typical rosette pattern. Yet, Diphyllobothrium latum parvum was shown smaller than Diphyllobothrium latum in the micrograph. Proglottids of Spirometra erinacei displayed that the uterus was rolled spirally more than five to seven times, and connected successively to the seminal vesicle in the cirrus sac. Shown above, this study was performed to measure the size of eggs and analyze the morphological characteristics of proglottids and provided the measurements of three types of cestodes obtained by a light microscope.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2013

An overview of the epidemiological, biological, and clinical studies of Taenia and taeniasis in Taiwan for the past century is presented. The phenomenal observations that led to the discovery of Taenia asiatica as a new species, which differ from Taenia solium and Taenia saginata, are described. Parasitological surveys of the aborigines in Taiwan revealed a high prevalence of taeniasis, which might be due to the culture of eating raw liver of hunted wild boars. Chemotherapeutic deworming trials involving many patients with taeniasis were discussed. Praziquantel was found to be very effective, but sometimes complete worms could not be recovered from the feces after treatment, probably due to the dissolution of the proglottids. Atabrine, despite some side effects, can still be used, in properly controlled dosages, as the drug of choice for human T. asiatica infection if we need to recover the expelled worms for morphological examinations. Research results on the infection of T. asiatica eggs from Taiwan aborigines in experimental animals were also noted. Since the pig serve as the natural intermediate host of T. asiatica and the predilection site is the liver, a differential comparison of other parasitic pathogens that might cause apparently similar lesions is also presented.