Yucatán, first place in cases of ‘Taeniasis’

Taeniasis in humans is a parasitic infection caused by the tapeworm species Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm), Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), and Taenia asiatica (Asian tapeworm). Humans can become infected with these tapeworms by eating raw or undercooked beef or pork. People with taeniasis may not know they have a tapeworm infection because symptoms are usually mild or nonexistent.

Mérida, Yucatán, (September 13, 21).- The consumption of contaminated pork has caused Yucatán to become a focus of infection with taeniasis, concentrating 17 percent of the total cases registered in the country, reported the federal Ministry of Health.

In Quintana Roo the situation is imperceptible, since so far this year only one case has been registered, and in Campeche the problem is nil.

Tapeworm is an intestinal infection caused by the adult form of large tapeworms, while cysticercosis is a tissue infection produced by the larval form of a species, the Taenia solium or also known as the pork tapeworm.

The clinical manifestations of adult tapeworm infection are variable, if present, and may include nervousness, insomnia, anorexia, weight loss, abdominal pain, and digestive disorders.

Except for discomfort caused by worm segments expelled from the anus, many infections are asymptomatic.

So far this year, 94 confirmed cases have already been registered in the Mexican Republic, distributed in 25 states, with a decrease of 5.1 percent compared to the same period in 2020, when the sum was 99 cases.

Only in this epidemiological week were six infected, of which two are from Coahuila, and the rest are from the State of Mexico, Oaxaca, Sonora, and Yucatán.

So far in Yucatan, there are 16 people with taeniasis, with an increase of 23.1 percent over the previous year, when the accumulated was 13.

While in second place is Mexico City, with 12 cases, 12.8 percent, followed by Puebla with nine, 9.6 percent.

Regarding gender, at the national level there are 55 women affected, 58.5 percent, and 39 men, 41.5 percent, in turn, in Yucatan there are 12 women, 75 percent, and four men, 25 percent.

Only in seven entities is the pathology absent, for the moment, such is the case of Campeche.

Taeniasis is usually a non-lethal infection, and in humans it results from ingestion of raw or undercooked pork, with the later development of the adult worm in the intestine.

Taenia solium is the causative agent of intestinal infection in its adult form, and somatic infection through larvae, cysticerci.

Whereas Tapeworm saginata, the beef tapeworm, causes only intestinal infection by the adult worm in humans.

TYT Newsroom