XI. B, 1 Mendoza-Guazon: Case of Dvpylidium Caninum 25 



Bouche) , or by that of man (Pulex irritans Linnaeus) . In these 

 insects the eggs develop into cysticercoids (Cryptoceptes tricho- 

 destes Villot, 1882), as shown by Melnikow in the dog louse and 

 by Grassi in the dog flea. 



The dog is infested by biting the louse or flea and may pass 

 the larvae to man by licking. The cat licks its hair and gets 

 infected or licks the milk that is later on given or taken by 

 a child. This is graphically denounced by R. Blanchard.(3) 



Infestation cannot take place directly, according to Riley, (4) 

 from swallowing eggs or segments of the parasite, but only 

 through ingestion of the intermediary host — dog louse and cat 

 flea — as in the other species of taenia. 



Man may accidentally ingest one of these insects, and the 

 parasites are able then to complete their development in the host. 

 Children are often infested due to their intimate relation with 

 dogs and cats ; besides, they do not pay much attention to their 

 food. 



Frequency of these parasites in the dog. — Bowman (5) and 

 Willets(6) showed the presence of these parasites in the dogs 

 of the Philippines, Krabbe(7) found 78 per cent of dogs and 

 66 per cent of cats infested in Copenhagen, and Ward(V) found 

 it in from one fifth to four fifths of all dogs examined by various 

 European investigators and says that it is common in Nebraska, 

 in the United States. Wharton found Dipylidium caninum in 

 46.6 per cent of the dogs of Manila. 



OCCURRENCE IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



The cestodes are not common intestinal parasites of man, 

 and among them Dipylidium caninum is one of the rarest. I 

 have not been able to find any authentic record of it in these 

 Islands, although its probable occurrence has already been fore- 

 seen by some workers. 



Bowman, (5) in April, 1910, suspected that the Igorots in Ben- 

 guet subprovince might be infested with this parasite, owing 

 to the fact that dog meat is one of their constant foods. Al- 

 though he found the fleas Pulex serraticeps and P. irritans in 

 that region, he did not see any eggs of Dipylidium caninum in 

 100 stool examinations. Nevertheless, he autopsied four dogs 

 and found Ankylostoma trigonocephalum (Rud.) and Dipylidium 

 caninum. 



In October of the same year Willets(6) called the attention 

 of the physicians of these Islands to the probability of human 

 infection with this parasite, for it was common in dogs, and 

 he gave the symptoms and description of the parasite. 



