Review Reports - The Tapeworm and Maria Callas’ Diet: A Mystery Revealed

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I read the manuscript with interest and curiosity, it is generally well written, but unfortunately I am confused about its possibility that it could be published in “Parasitologia”.

First of all, I confess my lack of knowledge on the subject.

The most evident limit, from my point of view, is in the methodology. When the authors state that "We conducted a study based on the ‘white’, ‘grey’, and ‘black’ literature" they do not mention the sources and search engines employed, in order to allow an evaluation of the outcomes.

Assuming that this issue can find a solution, I have some doubt of the completeness of their info research, since I (completely ignorant of the subject) have found on the web a 2012 publication that in certain points overlaps the manuscript, but which is not mentioned, i.e .:

Tucker, E. (2012). From oral tradition to cyberspace: Tapeworm diet rumors and legends. In T. J. Blank (Ed.), Folk culture in the digital age: The emergent dynamics of human interaction (pp. 150-165). Boulder, CO: Utah State University Press.

Furthermore, considering the scientific and non-folkloristic aim of "Parasitology", from my point of view, a hint of the historic use of self-infections in the study of parasites would have helped to define the picture. I found a good summary in the following publication.

Lukes J, Kuchta R, Scholz T, Pomajbikova K. (Self-) infections with parasites: re-interpretations for the present. Trends Parasitol. 2014;30:377–85.

In conclusion, I do not feel able to express a completely negative opinion on the manuscript, and I leave the final decision to the Editor.

Author Response

Reviewer’s comment: I read the manuscript with interest and curiosity, it is generally well written, but unfortunately, I am confused about its possibility that it could be published in “Parasitologia”.

First of all, I confess my lack of knowledge on the subject. The most evident limit, from my point of view, is in the methodology. When the authors state that "We conducted a study based on the ‘white’, ‘grey’, and ‘black’ literature" they do not mention the sources and search engines employed, in order to allow an evaluation of the outcomes.

Author’s comment: We have included this explanation in material and methods section.

Reviewer’s comment: Assuming that this issue can find a solution, I have some doubt of the completeness of their info research, since I (completely ignorant of the subject) have found on the web a 2012 publication that in certain points overlaps the manuscript, but which is not mentioned, i.e .:

Author’s comment: Thank you for this comment. We have included in the manuscript.

Reviewer’s comment: Furthermore, considering the scientific and non-folkloristic aim of "Parasitology", from my point of view, a hint of the historic use of self-infections in the study of parasites would have helped to define the picture. I found a good summary in the following publication:

Lukes J, Kuchta R, Scholz T, Pomajbikova K. (Self-) infections with parasites: re-interpretations for the present. Trends Parasitol. 2014;30:377–85.

In conclusion, I do not feel able to express a completely negative opinion on the manuscript, and I leave the final decision to the Editor.

Author’s comment: Thank you for this comment. We have included in the manuscript.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

In the present manuscript “Tapeworm and Maria Callas’s Diet: A Revealed Mystery”, Inmaculada Zarzo and colleagues aimed to review the tapeworm diet and the relationship between Maria Callas’s diet and the intake of this parasite. In particular, they concluded that there are no case reports published in the literature about the consumption of tapeworms in the population and Maria Callas in pills or tablets to weight loss. Overall, I think that the manuscript is intriguing (within the scope of this journal), and the data could be useful in the fascinating field of research to pay particularly attention to rumors and fake news.

Author Response

Reviewer’s comment: In the present manuscript “Tapeworm and Maria Callas’s Diet: A Revealed Mystery”, Inmaculada Zarzo and colleagues aimed to review the tapeworm diet and the relationship between Maria Callas’s diet and the intake of this parasite. In particular, they concluded that there are no case reports published in the literature about the consumption of tapeworms in the population and Maria Callas in pills or tablets to weight loss. Overall, I think that the manuscript is intriguing (within the scope of this journal), and the data could be useful in the fascinating field of research to pay particularly attention to rumors and fake news.

Author’s comment: Thank you for comment. According to your idea, we think that this manuscript to help to pay particularly attention to rumors and fake news.

Reviewer 3 Report

Your article helps to demystify one of the most dangerous "miracle" diets for health. Although there is no clear evidence that its use is real, I agree with you that internet searches, more and more frequent, warn of the risk posed by this procedure. Although you quote an article, and I understand you are referring to literature that is not standard, could you explain what you consider white, gray and black literature?

Author Response

Reviewer’s comment: Your article helps to demystify one of the most dangerous "miracle" diets for health. Although there is no clear evidence that its use is real, I agree with you that internet searches, more and more frequent, warn of the risk posed by this procedure. Although you quote an article, and I understand you are referring to literature that is not standard, could you explain what you consider white, gray and black literature?

Author’s comment: Thank you for this comment. We have included in the manuscript this comment in the material and methods section.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The topic is intriguing, and can have an audience due to this aspect. But, is there really an original scientific contribution?

As for the references by Tucker and Lukes at al., they are misquoted, because:

Tucker did not contribute to the re-emerging of the myth, but analysed it, in the same way as the present manuscript.

Luckes et al. not only reviewed the historic use of self-infections to clarify life cycles of T. saginata, but “summarize the contribution of (self-) infections and propose protist and helminth candidates, chosen on the basis of several criteria, to test as possible therapy for selected human diseases”.

Author Response

Reviewer’s comment: The topic is intriguing, and can have an audience due to this aspect. But, is there really an original scientific contribution?

Author’s comment: In our viewpoint, there is really, in this manuscript, an original scientific contribution which help to clarify fake news around the consumption of tapeworm as strategy to weight loss and to discover the truth of the Callas’s weight loss based in several references.

Furthermore, the selection of this journal to send our manuscript is based in the aims and scope of Parasitologia and mdpi have published several articles focussed in the discover of mystery relationship in several scientific topics. Some examples of these articles, among others, are the following:

Alberghina, M. F., Schiavone, S., Greco, C., Saladino, M. L., Armetta, F., Renda, V., & Caponetti, E. (2019). How Many Secret Details Could a Systematic Multi-Analytical Study Reveal About the Mysterious Fresco Trionfo della Morte?. Heritage, 2(3), 2370-2383.
Beechy, T. (2022). The Manuscripts of Solomon and Saturn: CCCC 41, CCCC 422, BL Cotton Vitellius A. xv. Humanities, 11(2), 52.
Grendár Jr, M., & Grendár, M. (2001). Maximum entropy: Clearing up mysteries. Entropy, 3(2), 58-63.
Ilicic, D., & Grossart, H. P. (2022). Basal Parasitic Fungi in Marine Food Webs—A Mystery Yet to Unravel. Journal of Fungi, 8(2), 114.
Inagaki, N. (2022). Processing of D1 Protein: A Mysterious Process Carried Out in Thylakoid Lumen. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(5), 2520.
Teranikar, T., Lim, J., Ijaseun, T., & Lee, J. (2022). Development of Planar Illumination Strategies for Solving Mysteries in the Sub-Cellular Realm. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(3), 1643.

Reviewer’s comment: As for the references by Tucker and Lukes at al., they are misquoted, because: Tucker did not contribute to the re-emerging of the myth, but analysed it, in the same way as the present manuscript.

Author’s comment: According to the reviewer, it has been clarified in the manuscript.

Reviewer’s comment: Luckes et al. not only reviewed the historic use of self-infections to clarify life cycles of T. saginata, but “summarize the contribution of (self-) infections and propose protist and helminth candidates, chosen on the basis of several criteria, to test as possible therapy for selected human diseases”.

Author’s comment: According to the reviewer, it has added in the manuscript.