Seven cases of Diphyllobothrium latum infection

Abstract

Seven cases of Diphyllobothrium latum infection were proved by collection of worms after praziquantel treatment between October, 1986 and July, 1987. The patients were all males aged 20-44 years residing in Seoul or Ulungdo, Kyungpook Province. All of them had the history of eating several kinds of raw marine fishes, and they had never been to abroad. One of them experienced abdominal pain and 6 experienced natural discharge of a chain of worm segments, but none revealed any sign of anemia. Total 12 worms (1-3/patient) were collected after praziquantel treatment. The worms were 85-423 cm in length, and revealed the characteristic rosette-shape uterus in their gravid proglottides. The average egg size varied 61.0-65.3 x 41.7-46.1 microns. The eggs were yellowish-brown, and ovoid to elliptical. Including the present 7 cases, the total number of human D. latum infections proven by worms in Korea becomes 28 cases.

A case of Diphyllobothrium latum infection with a brief review of diphyllobothriasis in the Republic of Korea

“…All cases of D. latum and D. latum parvum type infections (Lee et al, 1994) were included, but a case of D. yonagoense infection has been excluded from this study (Lee et al, 1988). The adult worm of D. latum was not collected in the case numbers 36, 38, and 42 (Table 1); therefore, the number of worm-proven D. latum cases in the Republic of Korea becomes 40.…”

“…recalled that they had eaten any type of raw fish. Before the 1990s, perch was most frequently reported as the suspected second intermediate host in the Republic of Korea (Lee et al, 1983(Lee et al, , 1989, but nowadays, salmon, trout, and mullet are mainly concerned (Table 1). It is regretted that there have been no reports on D. latum plerocercoid infections in fishes; studies on the life cycle of D. latum are required in the Republic of Korea.…”

Four Human Cases of Diphyllobothrium latum Infection

“…Although previously a 3-worm infected case was reported in the Republic of Korea [10], all 4 cases in this study had a single worm infection (Table 1). Case 2 had the longest discharged worm around 3.0 m (Table 1).…”

Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense: wide egg size variation in 32 molecularly confirmed adult specimens from Korea

“…Prior to this report, most of the diphyllobothriid tapeworms recovered from humans were simply assigned as D. latum based on morphology of adult tapeworms and eggs ). Among other diphyllobothriid tapeworm infections, one case of Diphyllobothrium yonagoense infection (Lee et al 1988) and two cases of Diphyllobothrium parvum infections (Lee et al 1994) are documented. No imported cases of diphyllobothriid tapeworm infections have been reported in Korea.…”