You Swallowed a Tapeworm – What Now? #kurzgesagt #shorts

BL, you swallowed a tapeworm by accident. What now? Maybe you ate infected raw meat, or perhaps you drank contaminated water. Well, that's less important now; they're in your body.

How bad it might get depends on whether it's a lava or an egg.

Option one: Lavi. Once in your intestine, the lava bites into your intestinal wall, where it could spend the next 25 years growing up to 8 m long, eating what you eat and laying eggs. Unless you notice the exx in the toilet, you probably wouldn't even know you had a parasite. You and your new friend will peacefully coexist now.

Option two: egg. The eggs need to feast on something, so they don't stay in your gut. Instead, they get into your bloodstream, then force their way into muscles, developing into the lavy. Except sometimes, the eggs get into your brain, where they can cause all sorts of problems by chewing it up. This makes them a leading cause of epilepsy worldwide.

Fortunately, the treatment for both options is literally a single pill taken just once. The real cure is better sanitation.