Human diphyllobolthriasis is chiefly caused by
infection with
Diphyllobothrium latum(D. latum) through
eating raw or unproperly cooked fish such as
salmon,
trout or
perch. D. latum is worldwidely distributed, but not a common
parasite of
humans, and its
prevalence in
Korea is not high. The first worm-proven case of D. latum
infection was first reported in 1971 and about 30 cases have been reported in
Korea until now. However, with the increasing popularity of
eating raw
salmon,
trout and
perch, this
tapeworm infection tends to increase in
Korea. Most of the
patients infected by D. latum have not showed the specific symptoms and only non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms(
anorexia,
nausea,
vomiting,
diarrhea,
abdominal pain). We
report a case which includes a chain whitish, threadlike
tapeworm segments spontaneously discharged in the
patients stool. On reviewing the
literature, the present case is the first
report of D. latum
infection by
eating cultured
salmon. The
patient was treated with 600mg
single dose of
Praziquantel.