Ascariasis: causes, clinical presentation, signs and symptoms, diagnosis and treatment .

 Ascariasis is a tropical disease caused by the parasite Ascaris lumbricoides, a giant nematode (roundworm) that infects humans and requires human infection to complete its complicated life cycle.

Picture showing a male and a female ascaris.

 Ascaris lumbricoides is one of the most well-known helminthic parasites that afflict people, and ascariasis is still prevalent, with over 1.2 billion infections worldwide. It's ubiquitous in the Middle East and South America, particularly in developing areas where inadequate sanitation is a major risk factor for inflection. Ascaris lumbricoides infection affects people of all ages, however it is most frequent in preschoolers. Although most cases of ascariasis are asymptomatic, infection causes malnutrition in children and between 3000–60 000 fatalities per year, most of which are due to intestinal blockage.

What causes ascariasis?

Ascaris lumbricoides infects, spreads, and matures in the human host, causing ascariasis. The parasite's capacity to infiltrate the intestinal tract and then continue to the lungs, where they mature and pierce the lungs' air sacs, move to the throat, and then swallowed to allow maturation in the intestinal tract, causes the symptoms listed below.

Clinical prevention 

Adult worms rarely causes serious  symptoms, though heavy infestations in children might cause stunted growth due to malnutrition. In particularly high-intensity infections, excessive worm burdens can result in abdominal discomfort, intestinal blockage, and even perforation. Infections involving a single female worm may induce symptomatic biliary tract blockage, appendicitis, or nasopharyngeal ejection.

Signs and symptoms of ascariasis may include the following:

• abdominal symptoms (discomfort, swelling, pain),
• nausea,
• vomiting,
• fever,
• coughing,
• wheezing,
• passage of parasites and their eggs in stools.

What are the risk factors for developing ascariasis?

Although nematodes can be found all over the world, they prefer to live in warm, humid climates such as those found in tropical and subtropical countries. Poor sanitation and hygiene are the two biggest risk factors for developing this infection. In most cases, ascariasis is transmitted indirectly by an uninfected person swallowing contaminated food or water that contains Ascaris eggs released in the environment by infected persons in their feces. In these places, children are regularly sick; school-aged children are affected more frequently than adults.

DIAGNOSIS 

The conventional way for diagnosing ascariasis is to use a microscope to find Ascaris eggs in a stool sample. A concentration process is required since eggs may be difficult to identify in mild infections. 

TREATMENT 

The treatments of choice for treating Ascaris infections, regardless of the species of worm, are anthelmintic pharmaceuticals (drugs that eliminate parasitic worms from the body), such as albendazole and mebendazole. Infections are usually treated for one to three days. The medications appear to be effective and have little negative effects.

PREVENTION 

• Avoid swallowing soil that may be polluted with human or pig excrement, such as where human fecal matter ("night soil"), wastewater, or pig manure is used to fertilize crops. 
• Wash your hands with soap and water before contacting or handling pigs, cleaning pig pens, or handling pig dung. 
• Emphasize the significance of handwashing to prevent illness. 
• Keep an eye on children around pigs to make sure they don't put their hands in their mouths.