Instead, it is simply a protrusion with suction cups and hooks that allow the worm to tightly grip the intestine of its host. The name “tapeworm” represents the creature’s body, which is a flat ribbon – akin to tape – made up of many identical segments, capped by a “head.” This head – known as the scolex – is not a head as we know it, though, as the creature has no eyes, mouth or brain. I was really filled with joy,” she is reported as having said.īut what is a tapeworm? They are, in short, parasitic flatworms that make their homes within the insides of all main vertebrate creatures – fishes, mammals, birds and amphibians (tapeworm larvae are also parasites of invertebrates). “After about 20 ft of that thing had come out of my mouth, I just knew I had the record. Sally Mae Wallace of Great Grits, Mississippi, who, on September 5th, 1991, had 37 ft of continuous tapeworm removed by doctors.
However, those who cannot resist the pull of such lurid details may be advised to read Nancy Butcher’s The Strange Case of the Walking Corpse: A Chronicle of Medical Mysteries, Curious Remedies, and Bizarre but True Healing Folklore, which mentions a Ms. Although the internet is rife with tales of 108 ft monsters being pulled from the guts of unlucky souls, tapeworm infections in humans are uncommon in developed countries. However, a lot of these are “big fish” stories, so to speak. Such shudder-worthy tales are standard fare within the study of helminths, the class of beasties to which the colloquially named tapeworms belong. Why the cringe? Because the specimen sequenced was removed from the brain of a 50-year-old man, where the worm had happily taken up residence for the past 4 years. Share on Pinterest The creature has no eyes, mouth or brain instead, its “head” is simply a protrusion with suction cups and hooks that allow the worm to tightly grip the intestine of its host.
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