10 Human Parasites

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This page is dedicated to 10 human parasites most commonly found in people.

Some time ago, I went to to make a visit to a laboratory specialized in parasitology and here I have seen dozens of samples with many different parasites.

The following are the 10 human parasites more common in the human body:

1) Ascaris lumbricoides,a cylindrical worm; adults are found only in the intestines of humans, feeding on intestinal contents as they flow past. The worm has three lips at the mouth end, arranged like the leaves of a three leaf clover.Infection occurs through ingestion of food contaminated with feces containing Ascaris eggs. Infections are usually asymptomatic, especially if the number of worms is small. They may however be accompanied by inflammation, fever, and diarrhea, and serious problems may develop if the worms migrate to other parts of the body.

2) Clonorchis sinensis, is one of the 10 human parasites most common in the body; it lives in the human liver. It is one of the most common causes of parasitic infection around the world, and affects residents and visitors in regions like China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and Japan.

People infected with Clonorchis sinensis flukes experience symptoms like jaundice, fever, chills, and stomach pains.

3) Hookworm

is a general term for two different species of the parasite. Hundreds of millions of people are infected with hookworm worldwide. The hookworm parasite infects humans through penetration of the skin. Heavy infections of hookworm can lead to significant blood loss and anemia.

4) Pinworm

is one of the 10 human parasites, a very common human intestinal parasite, especially in children. The medical condition associated with pinworm infestation is known as enterobiasis, or sometimes oxyuriasis. Infection usually occurs through the ingestion of pinworm eggs, either through contaminated hands, food, or less commonly, water. Pinworms are estimated to infect more than 740 million people around the world, but most people who are infected are asymptomatic. The most common symptom of pinworms is itching around the anus. It is worse at night when the female worm deposits her eggs on the person infected.

5) The Schistosomes

are trematode worms that live in the bloodstream of human beings and animals. The schistosomes infect people through skin penetration when the person is swimming or bathing in contaminated water. Eggs remaining in the human body are trapped in the tissues, where they elicit hypersensitivity granulomas that cause disease in the urogenital systemor in the liver and intestines.

6) Plasmodium Malaria is one of the 10 human parasites most common in the human body and it is caused by the mosquito-borne protozoan parasite, Plasmodium.

Malaria parasites are transmitted from one person to another by the female anopheline mosquito. The males do not transmit the disease as they feed only on plant juices.The parasite goes through stages in the liver cells and then the red blood cells. Symptoms of falciparum malaria include fever, chills, bloody urine and brain damage.Systematic control of malaria started after the discovery malaria parasite by Laveran in 1889 (for which he received the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1907), and the demonstration by Ross in 1897 that the mosquito was the vector of malaria.

7) Trypanosoma Cruzi

is the causative agent of Chaga's disease. This parasite is one of the 10 human parasites most common in the human body but it is only found in the Americas, particularly Central and South America where millions are infected. The vectors are reduvidae bugs which are haematophagus and the most important are Triatoma infestans (Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru), T. sordida (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay. The main cause of death from this parasite is the resulting cardiac problems.

8) Giardia Intestinalis;

this parasite is one of the 10 human parasites most common in the body and it is very prevalent in most areas of the world. People get giardiasis when they swallow water or food contaminated with stool from an infected person or animal. People also get giardiasis from hand-to-mouth contact with contaminated surfaces or objects.It is a cause of traveler's diarrhea in people.

9) Entamoeba Histolytica

;this amoeba is the cause of amoebic dysentery. Contaminated water and food are the primary sources of infection. It is more common in people who live in tropical areas with poor sanitary conditions. In the United States, amebiasis is most often found in travelers to and immigrants from these areas, as well as in poeple who live in institutions that have poor sanitary conditions.

10) Taenia Species:there are two species of the tapeworm (cestode) Taenia that infect humans; Taenia saginata (beef tapeworm) and Taenia solium (pork tapeworm). Pigs and humans become infected by ingesting eggs or gravid proglottids. Humans are infected either by ingestion of food contaminated with feces containing eggs, or by autoinfection.Once eggs are ingested, oncospheres hatch in the intestine, invade the intestinal wall, and migrate to striated muscles, as well as the brain, liver, and other tissues, where they develop into cysticerci. In humans, cysts can cause serious sequelae if they localize in the brain, resulting in neurocysticercosis.

As you can see, parasitosis caused from the 10 human parasites most common in the human body, is not a medieval problem!
The parasites seem to infest a large percentage of the population, but nobody thinks the worms as a possible cause of health problem in our society!

At this point the belief that many colitis, constipation, intestinal pains are caused by parasites, began to emerge in my mind. But the parasite does not only cause intestinal problems: even depression, mental disorders, hepatitis, dermatitis.

It appears that the substances emitted by parasites match with poisons that usually introduced into the body, such as food preservatives or other chemicals considered safe by modern science. The result are some new compounds highly irritating to the cellular level.

It seems impossible but there are children and adults with intestinal parasites, usually roundworms. In children, the phenomenon occurs with pale face, deep eyes and teeth grinding at night.

Our grandmothers, dealing with a child who kept getting sick and had problems with allergies or asthma, said he had "worms" and suggested various natural therapies for the different regions of origin. Necklaces of garlic or wormwood or an infusion of thyme oil, often helped the healing.
They were not crazy!

Intestinal parasites, what people call "worms", are a major emerging problem. It is difficult to identify them, and suspicion of their presence comes only to doctors who know the importance of the relationship between intestinal inflammation and the whole organism. Most of the chronic diseases that afflict the world population are chronic inflammatins.

An inflamed intestine determines the spread of inflammation in distant areas. It depends not only on the existence of food intolerance. Some recent scientific studies have identified such a cross-reaction between the infestation from Anisakis and the body response to mites. In practice this means that a child or adult not allergic to dust, when they are infested by intestinal parasites can become allergic.

A study group of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm (ju1 Allergy 2001: 56, 660-666) found that people (several) infested by a particular intestinal worm (called just Anisakis simplex) frequently develop an allergy to many of the cross mites in the home and work.
Let's take an example: a child or adult who has spent vacations camping, and remember to have had some intestinal problems, and during winter has rhinitis, or asthma, may have "worms" in the belly instead of an allergic form.
The allergic form in short, would allow a defense of the organism, and therapy should not be based on the antihistamine or corticosteroid treatment, but on the eliminations of worms.

Another important work done by Spanish researchers (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2000 (Jan, 105:178-181.) indicates that often the allergic reactions to some foods are actually caused from the intestinal parasite, which accentuates the inflammatory response mechanisms, and causes reactions similar to those of allergies or intolerances.

Related Articles:

Intestinal Parasites

Symptoms of Parasites

Parasites Cleanse

Worms in Humans

Different Types of Worms

Taenia Worm




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