We can probably all agree that the thought of a tapeworm hiding out in your gut is not a pleasant one. Nor is the image of tapeworm larvae forming cysts in your muscles, organs, and even your brain. So listening to an entire episode on these parasitic worms? We understand why that may seem like a bit much. But trust us, the world of these worms is too fascinating and important to be missed. In this episode, we break down the biology of the tapeworm species that commonly infect humans and discuss the role of these parasites as a leading infectious cause of epilepsy around the world. Then we venture into the ancient and not-so-ancient history of these tapeworms, starting at “who was infected first – the human or the pig?” and ending with “what was the tapeworm diet all about anyway?” Finally, we wrap up the episode with a look at tapeworm by the numbers today. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts!
| History | Biology |
| Baer, Jean G. “The origin of human tapeworms.” The Journal of Parasitology 26.2 (1940): 127-134. | Ito, A., Nakao, M. and Wandra, T., 2003. Human taeniasis and cysticercosis in Asia. The Lancet, 362(9399), pp.1918-1920. |
| Bobes, Raúl J., et al. “Evolution, molecular epidemiology and perspectives on the research of taeniid parasites with special emphasis on Taenia solium.” Infection, Genetics and Evolution 23 (2014): 150-160. | Allan, J.C. and Craig, P.S., 2006. Coproantigens in taeniasis and echinococcosis. Parasitology International, 55, pp.S75-S80. |
| Cox, Frank EG. “History of human parasitology.” Clinical microbiology reviews 15.4 (2002): 595-612. | García, H.H., Gonzalez, A.E., Evans, C.A., Gilman, R.H. and Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru, 2003. Taenia solium cysticercosis. The lancet, 362(9383), pp.547-556. |
| Del Brutto, Oscar H., and Héctor H. García. “Taenia solium Cysticercosis—The lessons of history.” Journal of the neurological sciences 359.1-2 (2015): 392-395. | Reddy, D.S. and Volkmer II, R., 2017. Neurocysticercosis as an infectious acquired epilepsy worldwide. Seizure, 52, pp.176-181. |
| Dentzien-Dias, Paula C., et al. “Tapeworm eggs in a 270 million-year-old shark coprolite.” PLoS One 8.1 (2013): e55007. | Waeschenbach, A., Brabec, J., Scholz, T., Littlewood, D.T.J. and Kuchta, R., 2017. The catholic taste of broad tapeworms–multiple routes to human infection. International Journal for Parasitology, 47(13), pp.831-843. |
| Ferreira, Luiz Fernando, et al. “The finding of eggs of Diphyllobothrium in human coprolites (4.100-1.950 BC) from Northern Chile.” Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 79.2 (1984): 175-180. | Newton, C.R. and Wagner, R.G., 2014. Infectious causes of epilepsy?. In Neglected Tropical Diseases and Conditions of the Nervous System (pp. 355-367). Springer, New York, NY. |
| Hoberg, Eric P. “Taenia tapeworms: their biology, evolution and socioeconomic significance.” Microbes and Infection 4.8 (2002): 859-866. | Jenkins, D.J., Romig, T. and Thompson, R.C.A., 2005. Emergence/re-emergence of Echinococcus spp.—a global update. International journal for parasitology, 35(11-12), pp.1205-1219. |
| Hoberg, Eric P. “Phylogeny of Taenia: species definitions and origins of human parasites.” Parasitology international 55 (2006): S23-S30. | Greenberg, D.J., Canoy, J., Pavosevic, H.T. and Epelbaum, O., 2022, April. Pulmonary Cystic Echinococcosis. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 97, No. 4, pp. 752-753). Elsevier. |
| Hoberg, Eric P., et al. “Out of Africa: origins of the Taenia tapeworms in humans.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 268.1469 (2001): 781-787. | Sorvillo, F.J., DeGiorgio, C. and Waterman, S.H., 2007. Deaths from cysticercosis, United States. Emerging infectious diseases, 13(2), p.230. |
| Ito, Akira, et al. “Kozen Yoshino’s experimental infections with Taenia solium tapeworms: An experiment never to be repeated.” Acta Tropica 205 (2020): 105378. | Scholz, T., Garcia, H.H., Kuchta, R. and Wicht, B., 2009. Update on the human broad tapeworm (genus Diphyllobothrium), including clinical relevance. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 22(1), pp.146-160. |
| Nakao, M., et al. “A phylogenetic hypothesis for the distribution of two genotypes of the pig tapeworm Taenia solium worldwide.” Parasitology 124.6 (2002): 657-662. | WHO. 11 Jan 2022. Taeniasis/cysticercosis Fact Sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/taeniasis-cysticercosis |
| Wadia, Noshir H., and Gagandeep Singh. “Taenia solium: a historical note.” Taenia Solium Cysticercosis: From Basic to Clinical Science CABI Publishing (2002): 157-168. | WHO 17 May 2021 Echinococcosis Fact Sheet. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/echinococcosis |
| The Horrifying Legacy of the Victorian Tapeworm Diet, Mariana Zapata, Atlas Obscura.https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-horrifying-legacy-of-the-victorian-tapeworm-diet | Robert Wood Johnson Foundation & Stanford Medicine Youtube Videos on Tapeworms: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD_hEu7G_yN5X29fbEf7XgA/search?query=tapeworm |
| Inside the Lasting Legacy of Tapeworm Diets, Ingrid Kesa, Vice.https://www.vice.com/en/article/xw5nnq/inside-the-lasting-legacy-of-tapeworm-diets | |
| How Tuberculosis Shaped Victorian Fashion, Emily Mullen, Smithsonian Magazine.https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-tuberculosis-shaped-victorian-fashion-180959029/ |
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