Cestoda

Cestoda

A class of ribbon-shaped, segmented flatworms, commonly known as tapeworms.

Scolex

The head of a tapeworm, equipped with structures for attachment, such as hooks or suckers.

Proglottids

Segments of a tapeworm body, each containing reproductive organs; can be immature, hermaphrodite, or gravid.

Strobila

The entire body of a tapeworm, consisting of multiple proglottids.

Gravid proglottids

Proglottids that contain a uterus filled with eggs, typically found at the end of the strobila.

Intermediate host

A host in which larval forms of the tapeworm develop, often through ingestion of eggs.

Definitive host

The host in which the adult tapeworm resides and reproduces.

Cysticercus

The larval stage of the tapeworm in the intermediate host, appearing as rounded or oval fluid-filled cysts.

Taenia saginata

The beef tapeworm, which can grow 4 to 10 meters long; cattle serve as the intermediate host.

Taenia solium

The pork tapeworm, affecting humans as both definitive and intermediate hosts.

Cysticercosis

A condition in humans resulting from ingestion of eggs of Taenia solium, leading to the formation of cysts in various tissues.

Hymenolepis nana

Also known as dwarf tapeworm, a cosmopolitan parasite often found in children.

Echinococcus granulosus

A tapeworm species that causes hydatid disease, with dogs as definitive hosts and various mammals as intermediate hosts.

Hydatid cyst

A large cyst formed by Echinococcus granulosus, found in organs like the liver and lungs.

Autoinfection

A process by which tapeworm eggs from feces can reinfect the same host.

Tegument

The protective covering of cestodes, which also serves secretory and absorptive functions.

Cross-fertilization

The process in which tapeworms exchange sperm between proglottids during mating.

Vitamin B12 deficiency

A condition that can occur as a result of infection with Diphyllobothrium latum due to the worm's consumption of vitamin B12.

Oncosphere

The larval stage of certain cestodes, which hatches from eggs.

Procercoid larvae

The larval stage that develops in the body cavity of crustaceans, part of the lifecycle of Diphyllobothrium.

Cysticercoid

A larval form of Hymenolepis nana, found in the tissues of its intermediate hosts.

Alveolar echinococcosis

A disease provoked by Echinococcus multilocularis, transmitted through definitive hosts like foxes and rarely affects humans.