Helminths
(a.k.a. Worms)

 

Roundworm is also the most prevelent parasitic nematode in the world and the United States infecting some 4 million people a year, web report. A detailed explaination can be found at a cambridge site.


An infection (of whipworm) occurs when mature eggs, which have been passed in faeces unembryonated into the soil, are accidentally swallowed through contact with contaminated hands or by food or drink. This is referred to as the faecal-oral route of infection. The larvae hatch in the small intestine, penetrating the mucosa and maturing. After about one week they migrate to the proximal colon and large intestine. Once there, they once again penetrate the intestine mucosa and attach themselves to the intestinal wall, their anterior portions having become threaded into the mucosa. The worms moult at points along their migration until the adult worms in the intestine are fifth-stage nematodes.

Once the worms mature sexually they will mate, with egg production occurring approximately 2 to 3 months after they were initially ingested. A female Whipworm can produce anywhere from 3,000 to 20,000 eggs in a day, wormtreatment.


Schistosomiasis is another name for bilharzia.
People get schistosomiasis by skin contact with contaminated fresh water in which certain types of snails that carry schistosomes are living. Infected people pass Schistosoma eggs in their urine and stool. The eggs get into fresh water sources when infected people urinate or defecate in the water. The eggs hatch in the water and seek out the snails they need to survive. Once in the snails, the parasites grow, reproduce, and are released into the water, where they can live for about 48 hours.

The parasites can penetrate the skin of persons who are using the water for washing or bathing, swimming, or work activities such as fishing, rice cultivation, or irrigation. Within several weeks, worms grow inside the blood vessels of the body and produce eggs. Some of these eggs travel to the bladder or intestines and are passed into the urine or stool.


Only about half of the eggs are passed in the urine or stool. The rest stay in the body where they can scar and damage vital organs. The symptoms of the disease are caused by the body's reaction to the worms' eggs, not by the worms themselves, astdhpphe.org.