Chinese woman has Eight foot tapeworm removed from her after eating rare beef

A Chinese woman was horrified when she was told she had an 8ft tapeworm living inside of her. She was thought to have picked up the worm from eating undercooked meat while travelling in South East Asia earlier this year.

Though she has had the worm removed, she says, the thought of it still makes her feel ill. She told the Chinese medial ‘it’s disgusting and almost makes me faint.’

Mrs. Li, who is in her 30s and lives in Xiamen, in China’s Fujian Province, visited a doctor after she started to feel unwell and noticed unusual fluids in her stools.

She was diagnosed with teniasis – an infection cause by tapeworm.

She believed she picked up the worm by eating rare beef while on holiday in January.

Doctors treated her with traditional Chinese medicines and she was able to pass the tapeworm in May. She is now recovering well.

A tapeworm is a parasite that can live in a person’s bowel. They tend to be flat, segmented and ribbon – like. Humans can catch them by touching contaminated stools and then touching their mouths, by swallowing food or water that contains traces of contaminated faeces or by eating under cooked, contaminated port, beef or fish.

Symptoms of tapeworm infection include stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea as we as weight loss and malnutrition.

However, some patients have no symptoms and are unaware of their infection until they see segments of the worm in their stools.

Beef tapeworms can be easily treated with tablets. However, infection with other tapeworms can lead to serious complications, this is because their larvae can settle in other parts of the body.

They are most commonly seen in the developing world.

Wash your hands before you eat anything, simple but effective advice and cook your foods properly. Also wash your fruits before you eat them. I even wash my eggs before I break them.