Title
Diphyllobothrium pacificum infection is seldom associated with megaloblastic anemia
Date Issued
01 November 2012
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Abstract
Twenty cases of Dyphillobothrium pacificum (fish tapeworm) infections were prospectively studied to determine whether this tapeworm is associated with megaloblastic anemia, as commonly reported for D. latum infections. The most frequent symptoms were fatigue and mild abdominal pain, which were identified in approximately 66.6% of the 18 patients interviewed. Fourteen patients received treatment with niclosamide and all were cured. The other six patients spontaneously eliminated the tapeworms. One patient, who also had chronic diabetes and gastric atrophy, had low vitamin B12 levels and megaloblastic anemia. In all other patients, including three other patients with anemia, baseline vitamin B12 levels were in the reference range and did not significantly change when re-assessed three months later. Unlike D. latum, infection with D. pacificum is seldom associated with megaloblastic anemia or vitamin B12 deficit. Copyright © 2012 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Start page
897
End page
901
Volume
87
Issue
5
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Parasitología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84869133757
PubMed ID
Source
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN of the container
00029637
Sponsor(s)
Fogarty International Center D43TW001140
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus