The immature form of a small tapeworm, Taenia echinococcus, found in dogs, wolves and jackals and from which human beings become infected, so that they harbour the immature parasite in the form known as hydatid cyst. (See TAENIASIS.)
Genus of cestodes which includes the hydatid tapeworms, Echinococcus granulosus, E. multilocularis, E. vogeli and E. oligarthrus.
n. a genus of small parasitic tapeworms that reach a maximum length of only 8 mm. Adults are found in the intestines of dogs, wolves, or jackals. If the eggs are swallowed by a human, who can act as a secondary host, the resulting larvae penetrate the intestine and settle in the lungs, liver, or brain to form large cysts, usually 5–10 cm in diameter (see hydatid disease). Two species causing this condition are E. granulosus and E. multilocularis.
A drug adjunct to surgery in the treatment of hydatid cysts (see under CYSTS) caused by Taenia echinococcus, a small tapeworm (see TAENIASIS). If surgery is not possible, albendazole can be used on its own. The drug is also used to treat STRONGYLOIDIASIS.... albendazole
(cestode) n. any of a group of flatworms that have a long thin ribbon-like body and live as parasites in the intestines of humans and other vertebrates. The body of a tapeworm consists of a head (scolex), a short neck, and a strobila made up of a chain of separate segments (proglottides). Mature proglottides, full of eggs, are released from the free end of the worm and pass out in the host’s stools. Eggs are then ingested by an intermediate host, in whose tissues the larval stages develop (see plerocercoid; cysticercus; hydatid). Humans are the primary hosts for some tapeworms (see Taenia; Hymenolepis). However, other genera are also medically important (see Diphyllobothrium; Dipylidium; Echinococcus).... tapeworm
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