Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, commonly known as tapeworms.

Mar 8, 2025 · Tapeworm, any member of the invertebrate class Cestoda (phylum Platyhelminthes), a group of parasitic flatworms containing about 5,000 species. Tapeworms, which occur worldwide and range in size from about 1 mm (0.04 inch) to more than 15 m (50 feet), are internal parasites, affecting certain

Commonly known as tapeworms, cestodes are a type of parasitic worm that can be found in the gastrointestinal tract of their hosts (definitive hosts). Although most infections have been shown to occur in developing nations, these are widely distributed across the globe.

In general, the common gut-dwelling adult cestodes are well adapted to the human host, induce few symptoms, and only rarely cause serious pathology. This reality belies innumerable fearsome and largely apocryphal stories of tapeworms stealing food and causing ravenous hunger (far more commonly, the appetite is depressed).

Jan 5, 2023 · Tapeworm infections are treated with anti-parasitic drugs. Treatments for larval cyst infections may include anti-parasitic drugs and surgery to remove the cyst. Other drugs may be used to treat symptoms. Symptoms depend mostly on where the infection happens in the body. A tapeworm in the intestines may cause no symptoms.

Aug 28, 2023 · Cestodes are flat, parasitic, hermaphroditic tapeworms with complex life cycles that infect animals, including humans. Three cestodes that cause human disease are Taenia solium (pork tapeworm), Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm), and Diphyllobothrium (fish tapeworm).

Cestode infection is typically foodborne or acquired by accidental ingestion of invertebrate hosts. All cestodes cycle through 3 stages—eggs, larvae, and adults. Adults inhabit the intestines of definitive, or final, hosts, which are mammalian carnivores, including humans.

Jul 24, 2022 · Cestodes or tapeworms are the members of the class Cestoda of the phylum Platyhelminthes. About 6000 species of cestodes are identified as parasites and they are mainly intestinal. They are both marine and terrestrial; vertebrates are the definitive hosts and their intermediate hosts are crustaceans, insects, annelids, mollusks, etc.

Jun 13, 2022 · Cestodes are tapeworms. There is a large variety of tapeworms but only those that are pathogenic to humans will be discussed here. These include: Taenia solium (pork tapeworm). Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm). Diphyllobothrium latum (fish or broad tapeworm). Hymenolepis nana and Hymenolepis diminuta (dwarf tapeworm and rat tapeworm respectively).

Cestodes are flatworms (platyhelminths) that cause human parasitic infection in the form of intestinal tapeworms or invasive larval cysts (i.e., neurocysticercosis or echinococcosis) (see Table 291-1). Cestodes are a group of tapeworms belonging taxonomically to the class Cestoda, phylum Platyhelminthes, kingdom Animalia.