An Overview of Helminthiasis
Venkatesan Jayaprakash, Daniele Castagnolo, Yusuf Özkay in Medicinal Chemistry of Neglected and Tropical Diseases, 2019
Ascaris is a genus of parasitic nematode worms known as the “small intestinal roundworms” and it is usually prevalent in tropical regions and expected to infect 1/4 of the world’s population. Most patients who are infected with Ascaris lumbricoides are asymptomatic. When the number of worms increases, abdominal pain and intestinal obstruction may occur. Pulmonary symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath, and haemoptysis may occur and eosinophilic pneumonia may develop due to larval migration to lungs. These round worms live in the lumen of the small intestine for 2 years and release a large number of eggs with faeces. The eggs bear rhabditiform larvae that hatch in the intestine. The resulting larvae are released, burrow through the intestinal wall and enter the hepatic circulation via capillaries and lymphatics. The larvae migrate via the right side of the heart into the lungs and then up the bronchial tree, where they are swallowed and make their way to the duodenum where they mature into adults after several months. (Kim et al. 2010, Linquist and Cross 2017).
Mebendazole
M. Lindsay Grayson, Sara E. Cosgrove, Suzanne M. Crowe, M. Lindsay Grayson, William Hope, James S. McCarthy, John Mills, Johan W. Mouton, David L. Paterson in Kucers’ The Use of Antibiotics, 2017
Taken as a single 500-mg dose or for 3 days in a dose of 100 mg twice daily, mebendazole is largely without side effects. Case reports exist of erratic migration of Ascaris lumbricoides, mild gastrointestinal upset, transient abdominal pain, and diarrhea (Chavarria et al., 1973; Pereira et al., 1979; Muttalib et al., 1981; Albonico et al., 1994). When the drug has been given at high doses for prolonged periods for treatment of cystic or alveolar echinococcal disease (50 mg/kg for 3–4 weeks), side effects reported have included severe abdominal pain, elevated transaminase levels, central nervous system disturbance (vertigo, headache), alopecia, and bone marrow depression, including neutropenia (Miskovitz and Javitt, 1980; Levin et al., 1983; Kammerer and Schantz, 1984; Fernández-Bañares et al., 1986; Reuter et al., 2000).
Ascariasis Incidence in Children who Received Single and Repeated Educational Lectures
Cut Adeya Adella in Stem Cell Oncology, 2018
Ascaris infection is more common in children aged 6-12 years (Mahmud et al., 2015). This is because children still have a lack of knowledge or consciousness about personal hygiene and health. The presence of Intestinal Parasitic Infections (IPIs) have a statistically significant association with the educational status of the household heads, the absence of washing facilities, home cleanness conditions and type of toilet used (p < 0.05) (Abbosie & Seid, 2014). The economic and educational level of parents also affects the incidence of ascariasis in children (Nematian et al., 2004). Parents with low economic levels tend to use health facilities more often associated with prevention of health or ascariasis. Low-educated parents will have less knowledge, including in the health field. One of the things they often ignore is personal hygiene and the environment. Also, poorly educated parents will find it difficult to provide good health education to their children, including the prevention of worms.
Exploration of extracellular vesicles from Ascaris suum provides evidence of parasite–host cross talk
Published in Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, 2019
Eline P. Hansen, Bastian Fromm, Sidsel D. Andersen, Antonio Marcilla, Kasper L. Andersen, Anne Borup, Andrew R. Williams, Aaron R. Jex, Robin B. Gasser, Neil D. Young, Ross S. Hall, Allan Stensballe, Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Yan Yan, Merete Fredholm, Stig M. Thamsborg, Peter Nejsum
Helminths, including Ascaris spp., induce a Th2-type immune response in their host, characterized by an increased production of eosinophils as well as an elevated secretion of IL-4 and IL-13 by T helper cells [5], and IL-25 and IL-33 by intestinal epithelial cells [6]. An increased level of IL-10 has also been observed in the intestine, where it acts as regulator of inflammation [7]. In addition, a strong suppression of both Th1 and Th17 immune function is a typical outcome of helminth infections [8] and T cell function is impaired in mice by A. suum products [9]. Dendritic cells (DCs) play an important role in the initiation of immune responses, as they induce polarization of naïve T-cells to Th cell populations, and modulation of DCs by parasite-derived products has been suggested to, at least partly, be responsible for the suppression of Th1/Th17 responses. For example, A. suum inhibit DC activation [10] and direct contact between DCs and specific helminth products, such as schistosome soluble egg antigens [11] results in a reduced production of pro-inflammatory cytokines [12]. In addition, we have recently shown that A. suum body fluid (ABF) has a strong overall immunosuppressive effect on DCs including inhibition of pro-inflammatory lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TNF-α and IL-6 secretion [13]. Similarly, ABF has a pronounced suppressive effect on the secretion of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 from LPS-stimulated classically activated human macrophages [14]. The active constituents of the ABF responsible for the suppressive effect on DCs and macrophages have not yet been identified.
Bifidobacterium animalis subspecies lactis modulates the local immune response and glucose uptake in the small intestine of juvenile pigs infected with the parasitic nematode Ascaris suum
Published in Gut Microbes, 2018
Gloria Solano-Aguilar, Terez Shea-Donohue, Kathleen B. Madden, Alejandro Quinoñes, Ethiopia Beshah, Sukla Lakshman, Yue Xie, Harry Dawson, Joseph F. Urban
Clinical studies suggest that some probiotic bacteria can promote health and prevent disease;1,8,21,22 however the mechanisms underlying these beneficial effects are not well understood. In this study, the in vivo effect of Bifidobacterium animalis subspecies lactis (Bb12) on intestinal function and immunity against a parasitic nematode was evaluated. Ascaris suum is a persistent and common problem in swine raised worldwide, and the related species in humans, A. lumbricoides (large roundworm) infects an estimated 804 million people.23 Although infections are common in countries with poor sanitation, ascariasis exhibit a cosmopolitan distribution with sporadic cases also described in developed countries24 where pigs can be a source of infection.25 Examination of the immunological and physiological responses to intestinal helminths also has been used to study local and systemic allergic disease.26,27
Infectious diseases among Ethiopian immigrants in Israel: a descriptive literature review
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2021
Yulia Treister-Goltzman, Ali Alhoashle, Roni Peleg
The EI who came to Israel in 1991 stayed over in refugee camps in Addis Ababa with minimal medical services. In this population the prevalence of intestinal parasites was 75% with 25% having multiple parasites [60]. Severe, unique manifestations of intestinal helminths were described among EI. One 3-year-old boy had an acute abdomen following intestinal necrosis resulting from an intestinal obstruction by Ascaris lumbricoides [61]. Three unusual clinical cases of colonic schistosomiasis were reported in EI. One patient had bloody diarrhea for 3 years, the second had salmonella co-infection, and the third had schistosomal colitis that was found on routine sigmoidoscopy as part of screening [62]. Strongyloides is an intestinal nematode that infests millions of people in the developing world, but much fewer in the developed world. Infection can cause a fatal disease in immunosuppressed patients, sometimes following hyperinfection (accelerated autoinfection). Four cases of Strongyloidiasis in EI were reported from one medical center in Israel over a one-year period. They had different manifestations of severe infection that were seen in the gastrointestinal tract and the lungs with further dissemination to other body systems. Three of these cases ended in death [63].
Related Knowledge Centers
- Ascariasis
- Ascaris Suum
- Cuticle
- Parasitism
- Ascaris Lumbricoides
- Parascaris Equorum
- Toxocaridae
- Toxascaris Leonina
- Parasitic Worm
- Bowel Obstruction