Ask a doctor on the topic of General medicine

Infestation with worms

June 14, 2012 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Hello,

I have a probably not everyday question, but unfortunately I have to get it answered now after years of suppression. In my youth, I suffered from a tapeworm disease transmitted by cats. Unfortunately, I never went to the doctor, as I was afraid. After some time, the whitish worms were gone in my stool. After some time, unfortunately, two larger worms, with a time interval, emerged from my vagina (possibly also urethra?). I have also repressed this and never had any complaints or other incidents. This was a few years ago now.

I have since done a stool test at the general practitioner, which could not detect any tapeworm disease. Unfortunately, I have not yet managed to inform my gynecologist and still have a trauma that the worms could have spread elsewhere in the body. The only "abnormality" in me is a sensitive bowel during my period and increased whitish discharge from the vagina, which was examined by the gynecologist but did not reveal anything specific (not related to the worms). I hope you don't think I'm completely stupid and answer a few questions for me so that I can overcome my trauma.
Can worms penetrate into other areas of the body and settle there?
Can worm infestation in humans disappear on its own after some time?
What tests do I need to do to be 100% sure that my body is free of worms?

Thank you.

Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Good evening,

Of course, I do not consider you "stupid"! But I believe that you have fallen into a, albeit understandable, error. Tapeworms can only live in the intestines and nowhere else. There are small worms (schistosomes) that, for example, occur in Africa (but not in Europe), which can make their way from the intestines to other organs; tapeworms definitely cannot. That's why I believe that it was not worms that came out of your vagina, but only mucus shreds; it can be mistaken for worms, especially since a tapeworm is not completely expelled, but usually only sheds parts of itself. You cannot find worms in the vagina, nor in the urethra; so you can be completely reassured.
I also suspect that it wasn't even a tapeworm, but ascarids or pinworms, smaller worms that can only live in the intestines and may disappear on their own. If your stool was normal, you can be sure that you are worm-free. If you still cannot shake off the fear of infection, it would be a good idea to work through the past psychologically.