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Cysticercosis
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Cysticercosis is one of the most dangerous diseases caused by a parasite that passes from animals to human beings. It is most prevalent in the rural areas of developing countries, from where it can become a threat in urban areas too. Cysticercosis is closely related to economic standards, culture and aspects of hygiene. Latin America, non-Islamic parts of Africa and South East Asia and especially India face major problems with this disease. In this article the author describes cysticercosis that originates from pigs (Cysticercosis cellulosae) in Bolivia, South America.
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Cysticercosis ... appears to be on the rise in the developed world. In one U.S. study of emergency room patients aged five years or older, 2.1% of patients with seizures had neurocysticercosis. In areas with large immigrant populations, this number rose to almost 10%. So far, most cases of cysticercosis in the United States have been found in recent immigrants, their families, or people who employed them as domestic workers. However, some U.S. studies have found that 17% to 26% of children with the disease were infected in the United States.
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The QualiCode™ Cysticercosis Western Blot Kit provides a sensitive and specific means for detection of IgG antibodies to Taenia solium. This kit has been developed under license from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, where the original assay method was developed. T. solium glycoprotein antigens have been purified from porcine cysts by lectin affinity chromatography. Purified T. solium antigen is fractionated according to molecular weight by electrophoresis on a sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide slab gel. The separated T. solium antigen is transferred via electrophoretic blotting from the gel to a membrane. The membrane is then cut into strips for individual sample testing.
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Cysticercosis usually results when an individual ingests food, especially pork, contaminated with T. solim eggs (rather than the larvae). The eggs travel via the bloodstream eventually finding their way into the muscle, subcutaneous, brain, and other tissues of the body. After 60 to 90 days the eggs encyst and develop into larval cysts (cysticerci). The cysts remain in the body tissue indefinitely, unable to proceed to the next stage of their life cycle. As long as these larvae remain alive, they appear to be able to "disguise" themselves from the host's immune system causing only mild symptoms. However, eventually the larvae die off causing a strong immune defensive reaction against it or the cyst surrounding it. The cyst itself may become enormous.
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Cysticercosis is contracted by accidentally swallowing pork tapeworm eggs. Tapeworm eggs are passed in the bowel movement of a person who is infected. These tapeworm eggs are spread through food, water, or surfaces contaminated with feces. This can happen by drinking contaminated water or food, or by putting contaminated fingers to your mouth. A person who has a tapeworm infection can reinfect themselves (autoinfection). Once inside the stomach, the tapeworm egg hatches, penetrates the intestine, travels through the bloodstream and may develop into cysticerci in the muscles, brain, or eyes.
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Cysticercosis is prevalent in nearly all of the Republic of India, particularly in the north (Rajshekhar, 2004). Significantly, neurocysticercosis accounts for 8.7 to 50 percent of patients with recent onset of seizures. The peculiarity of the disease in the Republic of India is the high incidence of patients with the solitary form of the disease, the solitary cysticercosis granuloma; 60 to 70 percent of Indian patients with neurocysticercosis have a solitary cysticercosis granuloma. The prevalence of taeniasis is reported to be between 0.5 to 2 percent, although surveys in Uttar Pradesh found 38.7 percent of people in a pig rearing community had taeniasis.
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Cysticercosis