Oh no.
What's causing this pain?
You run to the toilet
and relieve yourself.
Ah, that feels better.
Unfortunately, the relief disappears
when you look down.
Something is moving down there!
You've got worms inside you.
Tapeworms are flat, segmented worms
that live inside some animals' intestines.
And ours.
We know that six types
of these parasites infect people.
If an animal is infected with tapeworms,
and you eat that animal's meat,
you could be bringing those critters
into your body.
What can you do
to avoid hosting
a tapeworm's next dinner?
But before we can answer all that,
take a look at what a tapeworm
could do to your body.
A tapeworm infection begins
after you ingest
tapeworm eggs or larvae.
No, they're not a side order.
They are two ways that you
could be infected.
Once inside your intestines,
the eggs develop into larvae.
And the larvae become mobile.
If they migrate out of your intestines,
they'll form cysts in other tissues,
such as your lungs,
central nervous system, or liver.
Adult tapeworms can measure more than
25 m (80 ft) long.
And they can survive for as long as
30 years in a host.
Usually, tapeworms don't cause
many symptoms in humans,
so you might not know if you've gotten one.
If you do have a tapeworm in your body,
there are treatments you can use.
But sometimes, these hungry freeloaders
cause serious, life-threatening
health problems.
Here are some tips to help you deal with
these pesky parasites.
The easiest way to avoid
getting a tapeworm would be to go vegan,
but everyone is not
cut out for that lifestyle.
So, if you love eating meat,
and you can’t imagine living
without juicy steaks,
make sure you cook whole cuts of meat
to at least 62.7 °C (145 °F).
And cook ground meat and poultry
to at least 71.1 °C (160 °F).
Then, let the meat rest for three minutes
before you carve or consume it,
so the heat can continue
killing any pathogens.
Also, stay away from
raw meat and fish,
although this can be
a problem for sushi lovers.
Just ask the young man from
Fresno, California
who pulled a 1.7 m (5.5 ft) tapeworm
out of his body in 2018.
Afterward, he walked into
an emergency room to get treated,
and blamed his sushi habit
for causing the incident.
How you store meat products
is also important.
Freezing meat to -20 °C (-4 °F)
for at least 24 hours kills tapeworm eggs.
Be extra cautious about where you eat
when traveling in other countries,
especially if you're taking a trip
to Latin America,
Asia, or Africa.
Be sure to follow
proper hygiene practices.
And stay away from livestock
and human feces.
Remember to cook fruits and vegetables
with boiled or chemically-treated water
before you eat them.
And only drink bottled water,
water that's been boiled for one minute,
or carbonated drinks in cans or bottles.
You might have heard this
during the global pandemic of 2020,
but we can’t emphasize this enough.
Using proper hygiene is essential.
So, to avoid getting infected
with a tapeworm,
make sure you wash your hands
with soap and hot water
before preparing or eating food.
Sometimes it can be difficult
to tell if you have a tapeworm infection,
since you may not have any symptoms.
It's been reported that
people infected with a tapeworm
sometimes notice an unusual increase
in their appetite.
After all,
you're eating for two.
You and the worm.
This can lead to abnormal weight gain.
Tapeworm infections are rare
in North America
and other developed countries.
But they do happen.
So we need to be vigilant at all times,
follow proper hygiene practices,
be mindful of our diets,
and keep an eye on our health.
But what if you got infected
by something else,
like cordyceps fungus?
No problem.
We have you covered,
right here
on How to Survive.