Introduction:

Cestodes are helminths of complex life cycles which may infect animals and humans. No mass deworming programs are in place to reduce the worldwide parasite load of cestodes, given the low prevalence reported by epidemiological research. Few studies are available in the international literature about the epidemiology and detection of these infections.

Objective:

Describe the frequency of cestode infection and its epidemiological characteristics.

Methods:

A retrospective descriptive study was conducted from 3 January 2010 to 28 December 2018. Evaluation was performed of all the samples of fecal matter, adult parasites and metacestodes submitted by the health care network to the Intestinal Parasitic Disease National Reference Laboratory at Pedro Kourí Institute. The study universe was 9 833 samples, mostly received from the province of Havana.

Results:

Inermicapsifer madagascariensis infection prevailed among children aged under 5 years (69.6%; CI 95%: 47.1-86.8). Taenia sp. intestinal infection was mainly diagnosed in patients aged 15-65 years (88.2%; CI 95%: 63.6-98.5). Of the 47 cestode infection positive cases, 24 were female (51.1%; CI 95%: 35.7-66.4) and 23 were male (48.9%; CI 95%: 33.6-64.3). No significant differences were found between Inermicapsifer madagascariensis and Taenia sp. infection and the sex of patients (p˃ 0.05).

Conclusions:

Although the frequency of cestode infection detected is low, these results could be useful for an integrated control of the main cestode infections affecting the different age groups.

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