Who can get tapeworm?

Answer 1

Anyone can get tapeworm. Those most at risk are people who:

• Have pets without regular flea control - the tapeworm Dipylidium caninum is transmitted through fleas. (see related link below for more information) The fleas then continue the cycle of tapeworm which, while not passing the tapeworm via fleas to their owners, can certainly pass on the tapeworm in other ways.
• Have pets which are permitted to lick their owners' hands and/or faces.
• Anyone who does not wash their hands regularly after contact with pets, and when preparing or eating food.

The most common way to get tapeworm is by accidentally eating tapeworm eggs. This is why it is common to have tapeworm transmitted from pet to owner, especially when one touches one's mouth with contaminated fingers. Once you have tapeworm, the fact that the tapeworm reproduces inside one's body causes re-infection.

Tapeworms live in the intestine and their mature segments, loaded with eggs, break off and pass out the animal. The route of entry would be ingestion. In the stomach the dried and hardened segment is digested, releasing thousands of eggs. Some of those eggs hatch and produce a new baby tapeworm that starts the process over in the new host.

You are at risk if you consume unwashed vegetables that have been exposed to infested animal droppings.

If you are going to fertilize your garden with manure, the manure should have been composted. The heat of composting can kill the eggs. Always wash your vegetables, especially roots such as onions, potatoes and carrots. It isn't likely that you are going to be at risk of a tapeworm from vegetables from the supermarket but, still, you don't know what the people were touching before they fondled the vegetables you just bought.