Tapeworm Anemia

The cause of the anemia which appears in a small percentage of persons harboringDibothryocephalus latus (Diphyllobothrium latum)has not received, as yet, an adequate explanation. Ehrstrom1estimated that in Finland, where from 250,000 to 275,000 inhabitants areDibothryocephalushosts, only from 0.1 to 0.5 per cent of those infected with the tapeworm develop anemia. A correspondingly small percentage was noted in other countries. Ehrstrom pointed out that anemia may appear in a small, but relatively almost as frequent a, percentage of patients infected withTaenia saginata, T. soliumandAscaris lumbricoides.Piney,2among others, noting its close resemblance to pernicious anemia, suggested that it may be a form of this type of anemia which has been elicited in susceptible persons by the toxins of the tapeworms. A constitutional predisposition plus the stimulus given by the tapeworm gives rise, in the host, to symptoms and signs which are