[The epidemiology of Taenia saginata taeniasis]

The aim of the epidemiological analysis was to detect the distribution and changes in the incidence of Taenia saginata and to find the relations between taeniosis and cysticercosis in the district of Halle (Saale). The morbidity rate of taeniosis was calculated at first by the number of notified cases and also by the quantity of anthelmintics in the treatment of T. saginata infections in humans. The morbidity based on notifications did not show any relations to the frequency of metacestodes of T. saginata in cattle. This morbidity rate gave an exact relation to the number of notified cases but not to the number of real cases of cestodes in humans. On the contrary, the theoretical morbidity based on used anthelmintics developed parallel to the degree of infestation in cattle. Therefore this theoretical morbidity is very suitable for epidemiological studies of taeniosis.