Editing Dipylidium caninum (section)

==Human infections==
A human infection with ''D. caninum'' is rare, but if an infection does occur, it is more likely to occur in young children. As of the early 1960s, the number of cases of ''D. caninum'' in the U.S. was a mere 21. Therefore, human infection of Dipylidium caninum, or diplydiasis, is a rare occasion. It is largely agreed across the parasitology community that despite the reports of this disease occurring, there are very likely numerous cases that have gone unnoticed and unreported because of its subtle and minor pathology in humans, in addition to its scarceness in clinical records. The adult tapeworm grows within the host for 3–4 weeks after initial infection.  The number of parasites the host is initially infected with is directly related to the number of cysticercoid juveniles present in the fleas coelom. The load of parasites present in the humans is lower, luckily, as the life cycle is not occurring in the ideal conditions or species as humans are not the definitive host.<ref>Bowman DD. Georgis‘Parasitology for Veterinarians. Sixth edition Philadelphia. PA: Saunders Company; 1995:145–6</ref>

Many cases have an unexciting course of infection, as can be depicted in two cases occurring in the 1960s. The first case occurred in a 9-month-old female. Mother found motile proglottids the child’s diaper, later identified as D. caninum. The child had no apparent signs or symptoms. The presumed source of infections was one of the family’s  four Labrador retrievers, two of which were found to already have been infected with D. caninum. The second additional case occurred in an 18-month-old male. Mother found motile proglottids in the child’s diaper and again, the child was symptom-free.  A puppy in the household was found to be infected and thus was the source of the child infection.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Thompson|first=James H.|date=1963|title=Human Dipylidium caninum Infection|journal=The Journal of Parasitology|volume=49|issue=3|pages=402|doi=10.2307/3275807|jstor=3275807|issn=0022-3395}}</ref> Young children and toddlers are at a greater risk of infection because of how they interact with their pets. A human may attain an infection by accidentally ingesting an infected flea through food contamination or through the saliva of pets. Most infections are asymptomatic, but sometimes these symptoms may be identified in an infected individual: mild diarrhea, abdominal colic, [[anorexia]], restlessness, constipation, rectal itching, and pain due to emerging proglottids through the anal cavity.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Garcia-Martos |first1=Pedro |last2=Garcia-Agudo |first2=Lidia |last3=Rodriguez-Iglesias |first3=Manuel |title=Dipylidium caninum infection in an infant: a rare case report and literature review |journal=Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine |date=26 May 2014 |volume=4 |issue=2 |page=S565–S567 |doi=10.12980/APJTB.4.2014APJTB-2014-0034 |url=http://www.apjtb.com/zz/2014S2/7.pdf |accessdate=20 September 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518081154/http://www.apjtb.com/zz/2014S2/7.pdf |archivedate=18 May 2015 |doi-access=free }}</ref>