Most worm infections are not serious and can be easily treated with medicine.
Some worms cause few or no symptoms, but some can cause severe complications over time. Anyone who believes they may have an intestinal worm should contact a doctor as soon as possible for a diagnosis and prompt treatment. Effective treatment usually involves the use of medication.
Some worms cause anaemia. Once they have entered humans by penetrating the skin, the larvae of some worms, for example dog hookworm (Ancylostoma caninum) or Strongyloides, can migrate under the skin causing diagnostic pink or red curving tracks known as larva migrans or larva currens.
Any worms in your gut will eventually pass out in your poo. You may not notice this. To avoid becoming infected again or infecting others, it's very important during the weeks after starting treatment to wash your hands: after going to the toilet.
Threadworms live about 5-6 weeks in the gut, and then die. However, before they die the female worms lay tiny eggs around the anus. This tends to be at night when you are warm and still in bed. The eggs are too small to see, but cause an itch around the anus.
The lifespan of threadworms is approximately 6 weeks, so it's important that hygiene measures are followed for at least this length of time. Everyone in the household must follow the advice outlined below.
Except in severe cases of heartworm infestation, worms do not usually constitute an emergency. However, worms should never be left untreated, as worm infestations can cause damage to your dog's internal organs. In a worst-case scenario, the effects of worms can even lead to a loss of consciousness and death.
In heavy ascariasis infestation, a mass of worms can block a portion of your intestine. This can cause severe abdominal cramping and vomiting. The blockage can even make a hole in the intestinal wall or appendix, causing internal bleeding (hemorrhage) or appendicitis.
However, hygiene measures alone may work. The worms die after about six weeks. Provided that you do not swallow any new eggs, no new worms will grow to replace them. So, if you continue the hygiene measures described above for six weeks, this should break the cycle of re-infection, and clear your gut of threadworms.
Eat more raw garlic, pumpkin seeds, pomegranates, beets, and carrots, all of which have been used traditionally to kill parasites. In one study, researchers found that a mixture of honey and papaya seeds cleared stools of parasites in 23 out of 30 subjects. Drink a lot of water to help flush out your system.
Symptoms of threadworm infection usually disappear within one week of treatment. Threadworms are highly contagious. Hygiene measures should be followed for 6 weeks.
Pinworm eggs can be collected and examined using the “tape test” as soon as the person wakes up. This “test” is done by firmly pressing the adhesive side of clear, transparent cellophane tape to the skin around the anus. The eggs stick to the tape and the tape can be placed on a slide and looked at under a microscope.
At first, symptoms of intestinal worms may be mild or non-existent, but infections can lead to diarrhoea, abdominal pain, weakness, anaemia and nutritional problems. The disease can affect cognitive and physical development, and in severe cases can be fatal.
The most common symptom of infection is anal itching, particularly at night, as worms migrate to the host's anal area to lay their eggs. Pinworm infection is the most common type of intestinal worm infection in the United States and one of the most common worldwide.
Nightcrawlers are nocturnal, meaning they go out hunting at night. Earthworms are diurnal and prefer to come out during the daytime (though you can find them outside of their homes in your garden any time).
Globally, due to intestinal parasitic infections, around 3.5 billion people are affected and more than 200,000 deaths are reported annually.
Intestinal worms (also known as soil-transmitted helminths) affect more than 1.7 billion people worldwide including more than 1 billion children, according to the World Health Organization. The three most common intestinal worms are hookworm, ascaris (roundworm), and trichuris (whipworm).
Worms are mainly spread in small bits of poo from people with a worm infection. Some are caught from food. You can get infected by: touching objects or surfaces with worm eggs on them if someone with worms doesn't wash their hands.
The worms can spread to the spinal cord, causing myelopathy. This results in pain, urinary retention, and weakness of the regions below the level of infection. Permanent paralysis can result.
You can buy medicine (mebendazole) for threadworms from pharmacies. This is usually a chewable tablet or liquid you swallow. Treat everyone in your household, even if they do not have symptoms.
The medicine should start to work straight away but it may take several days to kill all the worms. It's important to take the medicine as a pharmacist or doctor tells you. Do not stop early if you have been told to take it for several days.
Worms emerge at night, when the air is cool and moist. They feed on decaying organic matter on the soil surface.
Take the correct dewormer
When infected with worms, it should be dewormed periodically, for adults and children over 2 years old should be dewormed 2 to 3 times a year, ie every 4 to 6 months.