Beef tapeworm resides in many "favorite" dishes

The article was professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Nguyen Thi Nhat - Infectious Disease Specialist - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital

Beef is a favorite dish of many people, especially stir-fried beef. However, if these dishes are not cooked thoroughly, there is a potential risk of infection with beef tapeworm - a disease that causes many dangerous complications.

Beef tapeworm (Taenia saginata) is one of three types of tapeworms in the genus Taenia in Vietnam. Hermaphroditic tapeworms live in the intestines of humans. In terms of shape, beef tapeworms can be in the form of: adult tapeworms, eggs, larval cysts.
When buffaloes and cows eat fluke eggs, it will enter the intestines, hatch larvae, then enter the circulatory system to return to the heart. The larvae follow the blood to the striated muscles to form larval cysts in the muscles of buffaloes and cows and are commonly known as "cow rice" (cysticercus bovis). Bovine fluke cysts often appear in muscles of tongue, diaphragm, heart muscle, buttock muscle... of buffaloes and cows.

When a meat-eater has undercooked, raw or raw beef tapeworm cysts, the larval cysts enter the human intestine. After that, the larvae will come out of the cyst, with the head turned out, thanks to suction, the fluke adheres to the intestinal mucosa usually in the upper jejunum.
Here the flukes absorb nutrients and grow, they survive for a long time because the body of the fluke is resistant to the proteolytic enzymes present in the small intestine. The beef tapeworm takes up food, weakens the body, and at the same time causes damage to the intestines, enteritis, digestive disorders...
Some cases have symptoms such as abdominal pain, loss of appetite, weight loss or dizziness, headache, anemia or even low blood pressure... In particular, flukes cause a horrible feeling when the patient sees the tapeworms come out of the anus and crawl out.

Bovine tapeworm is a common parasitic disease in our country. The disease is transmitted to humans mainly through food. It cannot be denied that the poor processing, especially the rare dishes that often retain the softness, sweetness and original flavor of beef, has long been a favorite dish of many people. However, if viewed from a scientific perspective, this can potentially have a very high risk of beef tapeworms.
Here are some favorite dishes with potential risks of beef tapeworm infection that we should pay attention to.
3.1. Rare beef noodle soup Rare beef noodle soup is one of the dishes that spread fluke disease the most. Basically, this way of processing is not as dangerous as beef blood soup, or beef salad, but it is a favorite dish, appearing in many restaurants.
Beef is also blanched in a large pot of boiling water. Some places just put thinly sliced ​​beef in a bowl and then let the boiling broth get old. With this processing method, the meat cannot be killed by the larval cysts of the beef tapeworm, thereby creating conditions for the fluke to enter the human digestive system.

3.2. Beef hot pot dishes and dips From beef hotpot, vinegared beef hot pot or even "mixed hot pot", beef is still an indispensable ingredient in the menu. However, there are many people who, when dipping beef, only dip rare to make the meat soft and sweet, also because they are afraid that the meat will be tough if left for a long time. This is also one of the causes of transmission of tapeworms.
3.3. Beef salads, mannequins and salads Basically, in these dishes, beef is marinated for a long time or stir-fried, but it cannot be fully cooked and absolutely safe.
Grilled beef salad With rare lemongrass beef Salad with spinach with beef salad 3.4. Beef rare steak The fact shows that, no matter how carefully selected, the risk of infection with flukes and a number of other diseases is always hidden. So instead of the favorite dish, we can still choose medium or well cooked steak.
3.5. Popular stir-fried beef dishes with vegetables and vegetables Stir-fried beef dishes are delicious, full of nutrients, just need someone to cook and stir-fry the beef thoroughly to completely ensure the health of the whole family. risk of tapeworm infection.

Some guidelines of the Ministry of Health will help prevent this disease:
Hygiene and eating, do not eat raw or rare beef, buffalo meat, do not eat infected meat. Eat cooked, drink boiled. Detect and remove flukes promptly if infected. For specialized agencies: Receiving patients to medical facilities for treatment and destruction of pathogens; control buffaloes and cows in epidemic areas; propagandize people not to eat undercooked buffalo/cow meat in any form. Manure management: Do not defecate indiscriminately, use septic tanks, do not water vegetables with untreated human excrement.