Human Parasites

Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine
by George M. Gould, M.D., Walter L. Pyle, M.D.

(Page 32 of 36)

Worms in the human body are of interest on account of the immense length some species attain, the anomalous symptoms which they cause, or because of their anomalous location and issue. According to modern writers the famous Viennese collection of helminths contains chains of tenia saginata 24 feet long. The older reports, according to which the taenia solium (i.e., generally the taenia saginata) grew to such lengths as 40, 50, 60, and even as much as 800 yards, are generally regarded as erroneous. The observers have apparently taken the total of all the fragments of the worm or worms evacuated at any time and added them, thus obtaining results so colossal that it would be impossible for such an immense mass to be contained in any human intestine.

The name solium has no relation to the Latin solus, or solium. It is quite possible for a number of tapeworms to exist simultaneously in the human body. Palm mentions the fact of four tapeworms existing in one person; and Mongeal has made observations of a number of cases in which several teniae existed simultaneously in the stomach. David speaks of the expulsion of five teniae by the ingestion of a quantity of sweet wine. Cobbold reports the case of four simultaneous tapeworms; and Aguiel describes the case of a man of twenty-four who expelled a mass weighing a kilogram, 34.5 meters long, consisting of several different worms. Garfinkel mentions a case which has been extensively quoted, of a peasant who voided 238 feet of tapeworms, 12 heads being found. Laveran reports a case in which 23 teniae were expelled in the same day. Greenhow mentions the occurrence of two teniae mediocanellata.

The size of a tapeworm in a small child is sometimes quite surprising. Even the new-born have exhibited signs of teniae, and Haussmann has discussed this subject. Armor speaks of a fully-matured tapeworm being expelled from a child five days old. Kennedy reports cases in which tapeworms have been expelled from infants five, and five and one-half months old. Heisberg gives an account of a tapeworm eight feet in length which came from a child of two. Twiggs describes a case in which a tapeworm 36 feet long was expelled from a child of four; and Fabre mentions the expulsion of eight teniae from a child. Occasionally the tapeworm is expelled from the mouth. Such cases are mentioned by Hitch and Martel. White speaks of a tapeworm which was discharged from the stomach after the use of an emetic. Lile mentions the removal of a tapeworm which had been in the bowel twenty-four years.

The peculiar effects of a tapeworm are exaggerated appetite and thirst, nausea, headaches, vertigo, ocular symptoms, cardiac palpitation, and Mursinna has even observed a case of trismus, or lockjaw, due to taenia solium. Fereol speaks of a case of vertigo, accompanied with epileptic convulsions, which was caused by teniae. On the administration of kousso three heads were expelled simultaneously. There is a record of an instance of cardiac pulsation rising to 240 per minute, which ceased upon the expulsion of a large tapeworm. It is quite possible for the presence of a tapeworm to indirectly produce death. Garroway describes a case in which death was apparently imminent from the presence of a tapeworm. Kisel has recorded a fatal case of anemia, in a child of six, dependent on teniae.

The number of ascarides or round-worms in one subject is sometimes enormous. Victor speaks of 129 round-worms being discharged from a child in the short space of five days. Pole mentions the expulsion of 441 lumbricoid worms in thirty-four days, and Fauconneau-Dufresne has reported a most remarkable case in which 5000 ascarides were discharged in less than three years, mostly by vomiting. The patient made an ultimate recovery.

There are many instances in which the lumbricoid worms have pierced the intestinal tract and made their way to other viscera, sometimes leading to an anomalous exit. There are several cases on record in which the lumbricoid worms have been found in the bladder. Pare speaks of a case of this kind during a long illness; and there is mention of a man who voided a worm half a yard long from his bladder after suppression of urine. The Ephemerides contains a curious case in which a stone was formed in the bladder, having for its nucleus a worm. Fontanelle presented to the Royal Academy of Medicine of Paris several yards of tapeworm passed from the urethra of a man of fifty-three.

The following is a quotation from the British Medical Journal: " I have at present a patient passing in his urine a worm-like body, not unlike a tapeworm as far as the segments and general appearance are concerned, the length of each segment being about 1/4 inch, the breadth rather less; sometimes 1 1/2 segments are joined together. The worm is serrated on the one side, each segment having 1 1/2 cusps. The urine pale, faintly acid at first, within the last week became almost neutral. There was considerable vesical irritation for the first week, with abundant mucus in the urine, specific gravity was 1010; there were no albumin nor tube-casts nor uric acid in the urinary sediments. Later there were pus-cells and abundant pus. Tenderness existed behind the prostate and along the course of left ureter. Temperature of patient oscillated from 97.5 degrees to 103.2 degrees F. There was no history at any time of recto-vesical fistula. Can anyone suggest the name, etc., of this helminth?"

Other cases of worms in the bladder are mentioned in Chapter XIII

Mitra speaks of the passage of round-worms through the umbilicus of an adult; and there is a case mentioned in which round-worms about seven inches long were voided from the navel of a young child. Borgeois speaks of a lumbricoid worm found in the biliary passages, and another in the air passages.