Ascaris lumbricoides Flashcards
Classification:
Metazoa
Indirect or direct
Hosts
Direct life cycle
Humans are final hosts
Swine also carry the worms
Transmission and life cycle
Adult worms live in the intestines. A female mates with a male worm and produces up to 20.000 eggs per day which are passed in the feces.
Fertilized eggs will develop in soil in warm and moist environment.
Larvae develop in these fertilized eggs.
Eggs are ingested, hatch in the intestinal mucosa and are carried by circulation to the lungs. Here they are coughed up, swallowed again and travel to the small intestine where they develop into adult worms.
Diagnosis:
Microscopy
- stool sample to identify eggs.
Molecular
- PCR
Serological
-ELISA
Imaging techniques to see worms:
- X-ray, CTscan, MRI