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Human parasites include various protozoa and worms that may infect humans that cause parasitic diseases.

• What Causes Worms In Human Urine
• What Causes Worms In Humans Bums

Human parasites are divided into endoparasites, which cause infection inside the body, and ectoparasites, which cause infection superficially within the skin.

Worms 'N' Us: A look at 8 parasitic worms that live in humans. The problem with treating Crohn's disease with whipworm, of course, is that the worm causes its own suite of problems, including. Taenia solium (the pork tapeworm that causes cysticercosis), Naegleria fowleri (freshwater amoeba that causes primary amoebic meningo-cephalitis) and Toxoplasma gondii (microscopic protozoa that causes toxoplasmosis) are all parasites that can infect the brain. The most common cause of brain parasites in the United States is the pork tapeworm.

The cysts and eggs of endoparasites may be found in feces, which aids in the detection of the parasite in the human host while also providing the means for the parasitic species to exit the current host and enter other hosts.^[1] Although there are a number of ways in which humans can contract parasitic infections, observing basic hygiene and cleanliness tips can reduce its probability.^[2]The most accurate diagnosis is by qPcr DNA antigen assay, not generally available by primary care physicians in the USA: most labs offer research only service.

• 1History
  • 1.2Written evidence
• 3Commonly documented parasites
  • 3.1Endoparasites

History[edit]

Archaeological evidence[edit]

It was assumed that early human ancestors generally had parasites, but until recently there was no evidence to support this claim. Generally, the discovery of parasites in ancient humans relies on the study of feces and other fossilized material. The earliest known parasite in a human was eggs of the lung fluke found in fossilized feces in northern Chile and is estimated to be from around 5900BC. There are also claims of hookworm eggs from around 5000BC in Brazil and large roundworm eggs from around 2330BC in Peru. Tapeworm eggs have also been found present in Egyptianmummies dating from around 2000BC, 1250BC, and 1000BC along with a well preserved and calcified female worm inside of a mummy.^{[3]:171–173}

Written evidence[edit]

The first written records of parasites date from 3000 to 400BC in Egyptian papyrus records. They identify parasites such as roundworms, Guinea worms, threadworms, and some tapeworms of unknown varieties. In ancient Greece, Hippocrates and Aristotle documented several parasites in his collection of works Corpus Hippocraticus. In this book, they documented the presence of worms and other parasites inside of fish, domesticated animals, and humans. The bladder worm is well documented in its presence in pigs along with the larval stages of a tapeworm (Taenia solium). These tapeworms were mentioned in a play by Aristophanes as 'hailstones' with Aristotle in the section about pig diseases in his book History of Animals. The cysts of the Echinococcus granulosus tapeworm were also well known in ancient cultures mainly because of their presence in slaughtered and sacrificed animals.^{[3]:173–174} The major parasitic disease that has been documented in early records is dracunculiasis. This disease is caused by the Guinea worm and is characterized by the female worm emerging from the leg. This symptom is so specific to the disease that it is mentioned in many texts and plays that predate 1000AD.^[3]:173

Greece and Rome[edit]

In Greece, Hippocrates and Aristotle created considerable medical documentation about parasites in the Corpus Hippocraticus. In this work, they documented the presence of parasitic worms in many animals ranging from fish to domesticated animals and humans. Among the most extensively documented was the Bladder Worm (Taenia solium). This condition was called 'measly pork' when present in pigs and was characterized by the presence of the larval stages of the Bladder Worm in muscle tissue. This disease was also mentioned by the playwright Aristophanes when he referred to 'hailstones' in one of his plays. This naming convention is also reflected by Aristotle when he refers to 'bladders that are like hailstones.' ^[3]:173Another worm that was commonly written about in ancient Greek texts was the tapeworm Echinococccus granulosus. This worm was distinguished by the presence of 'massive cysts' in the liver of animals. This condition was documented so well mainly because of its presence in slaughtered and sacrificed animals. It was documented by several different cultures of the time other than the Greeks including the Arabs, Romans, and Babylonians.^{[3]:173–174}Not many parasitic diseases were identified in ancient Greek and Roman texts mainly because the symptoms for parasitic diseases are shared with many other illnesses such as the flu, the common cold, and dysentery. However, several diseases such as Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), Hookworm, Elephantiasis, Schistosomiasis, Malaria, and Amebiasis cause unique and specific symptoms and are well documented because of this. The most documented by far was Guinea worm disease mainly because the grown female worm emerges from the skin, which causes considerable irritation, and which cannot really be ignored. This particular disease is widely accepted to also be the 'fiery serpents' written about in the Old Testament of the Bible.^[4] This disease was mentioned by Hippocrates in Greece along with Pliny the Elder, Galen, Aetius of Amida, and Paulus Aegineta of Alexandria in Rome. Strangely, this disease was never present in Greece even though it was documented.^[3]:174

Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Mesopotamia[edit]

The medieval Persian doctor Avicenna records the presence of several parasites in animals and in his patients including Guinea worm, threadworms, tapeworms, and the Ascaris worm. This followed a tradition of Arab medical writings spanning over 1000 years in the area near the Red Sea. However, the Arabs never made the connection between parasites and the diseases they caused.^[3]:174As with Greek and Roman texts, the Guinea worm is very well documented in Middle Eastern medical texts. Several Assyriandocuments in the library of King Ashurbanipal refer to an affliction that has been interpreted as Guinea worm disease.^[3]:174 In Egypt, the Ebers Papyrus contains one of the few references to hookwormdisease in ancient texts. This disease does not have very specific symptoms and was vaguely mentioned. However vague the reference, it is one of the few that connect the disease to the hookworm parasite.^[3]:174 Another documented disease is elephantiasis. Symptoms of this disease are highly visible, since it causes extreme swelling in the limbs, breasts, and genitals. A number of surviving statues indicate that PharaohMentuhotep II is likely to have suffered from elephantiasis. This disease was well known to Arabphysicians and Avicenna, who noted specific differences between elephantiasis and leprosy.^[3]:175

China[edit]

The Chinese mostly documented diseases rather than the parasites associated with them. Chinese texts contain one of the few references to hookworm disease found in ancient records, but no connection to the hookworm parasite is made.^[3]:174 The Emperor Huang Ti recorded the earliest mentioning (2700BC) of malaria in his text Nei Ching. He lists chills, headaches, and fevers as the main symptoms and distinguished between the different kinds of fevers.

India[edit]

In India, the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita document malaria. These documents list the main symptoms as fever and enlarged spleens.^{[3][not in citation given]} The Bhrigu Samhita from 1000 BCE makes the earliest reference to Amebiasis. The symptoms were given as bloody and mucosal diarrhea.^[3]

Most common parasites[edit]

As of 2013, the parasites causing the most deaths globally were as follows:^[5]

Commonly documented parasites[edit]

Endoparasites[edit]

Protozoa[edit]

• Plasmodium spp.: causes Malaria
• Entamoeba: causes amoebiasis, amoebic dysentery
• Giardia: causes Giardiasis
• Trypanosoma brucei: causes African sleeping sickness
• Toxoplasma gondii: causes Toxoplasmosis
• Acanthamoeba: causes Acanthamoeba keratitis
• Leishmania: causes Leishmaniasis
• Babesia: causes Babesiosis
• Balamuthia mandrillaris: causes Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis
• Cryptosporidium: causes Cryptosporidiosis
• Cyclospora: causes Cyclosporiasis
• Naegleria fowleri: causes Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis

Parasitic worms (helminths)[edit]

• Ascaris lumbricoides: cause Ascariasis
• Pinworm: causes Enterobiasis
• Strongyloides stercoralis: causes Strongyloidiasis
• Toxocara: causes Toxocariasis
• Guinea worm: causes dracunculiasis.^[6]:495

Parasitic flukes[edit]

• Schistosoma: causes schistosomiasis
• Gnathostoma: causes gnathostomiasis
• Paragonimus: causes paragonimiasis
• Fasciola hepatica: causes fascioliasis
• Trichobilharzia regenti: causes swimmer's itch

Ectoparasites[edit]

• Sarcoptes scabiei: causes scabies
• Pediculus humanus capitis: headlice
• Pthirus pubis: pubic lice
• Human botfly maggots: causes myiasis
• Chigoe flea Tunga penetrans: causes tungiasis
• Ticks (Ixodoidea)

References[edit]

1. ^Krumhardt, Barbera, PhD. Human Parasites. 8 October 2008
2. ^'Parasites - How they enter our body and ten precautions to avoid an infection'.
3. ^ ^{abcdefghijklm}Cox, Francis E. G. 'History of human parasitic diseases.' Infectious Disease Clinics of North America June 2004
4. ^Kuchenmeister, F. Animal and vegetableparasites. London: The Sydenham Society, 1857
5. ^'One Million Deaths by Parasites Speaking of Medicine'. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
6. ^Greenaway, C. 'Dracunculiasis'. Canadian Medical Association Journal (Feb 2004)

What Causes Worms In Human Urine

What Causes Worms In Humans Bums

A parasite is an organism that lives on or in a host organism and gets its food from or at the expense of its host. There are three main classes of parasites that can cause disease in humans: protozoa, helminths, and ectoparasites.

Protozoa are microscopic, one-celled organisms that can be free-living or parasitic in nature. They are able to multiply in humans, which contributes to their survival and also permits serious infections to develop from just a single organism. Transmission of protozoa that live in a human’s intestine to another human typically occurs through a fecal-oral route (for example, contaminated food or water or person-to-person contact). Protozoa that live in the blood or tissue of humans are transmitted to other humans by an arthropod vector (for example, through the bite of a mosquito or sand fly).

Entamoeba histolytica is a protozoan. A microscope is necessary to view this parasite. Credit CDC.

The protozoa that are infectious to humans can be classified into four groups based on their mode of movement:

• Sarcodina – the ameba, e.g., Entamoeba
• Mastigophora – the flagellates, e.g., Giardia, Leishmania
• Ciliophora – the ciliates, e.g., Balantidium
• Sporozoa – organisms whose adult stage is not motile e.g., Plasmodium, Cryptosporidium

An adult Ascaris lumbriocoides worm. They can range from 15 to 35 cm. Credit CDC.

Helminths are large, multicellular organisms that are generally visible to the naked eye in their adult stages. Like protozoa, helminths can be either free-living or parasitic in nature. In their adult form, helminths cannot multiply in humans. There are three main groups of helminths (derived from the Greek word for worms) that are human parasites:

• Flatworms (platyhelminths) – these include the trematodes (flukes) and cestodes (tapeworms).
• Thorny-headed worms (acanthocephalins) – the adult forms of these worms reside in the gastrointestinal tract. The acanthocephala are thought to be intermediate between the cestodes and nematodes.
• Roundworms (nematodes) – the adult forms of these worms can reside in the gastrointestinal tract, blood, lymphatic system or subcutaneous tissues. Alternatively, the immature (larval) states can cause disease through their infection of various body tissues. Some consider the helminths to also include the segmented worms (annelids)—the only ones important medically are the leeches. Of note, these organisms are not typically considered parasites.

An adult louse. Acutal size is about as big as a sesame seed. Credit CDC.

Although the term ectoparasites can broadly include blood-sucking arthropods such as mosquitoes (because they are dependent on a blood meal from a human host for their survival), this term is generally used more narrowly to refer to organisms such as ticks, fleas, lice, and mites that attach or burrow into the skin and remain there for relatively long periods of time (e.g., weeks to months). Arthropods are important in causing diseases in their own right, but are even more important as vectors, or transmitters, of many different pathogens that in turn cause tremendous morbidity and mortality from the diseases they cause.

Parasitic infections cause a tremendous burden of disease in both the tropics and subtropics as well as in more temperate climates. Of all parasitic diseases, malaria causes the most deaths globally. Malaria kills approximately 660,000 people each year, most of them young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), which have suffered from a lack of attention by the public health community, include parasitic diseases such as lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, and Guinea worm disease. The NTDs affect more than 1 billion people—one-sixth of the world’s population—largely in rural areas of low-income countries. These diseases extract a large toll on endemic populations, including lost ability to attend school or work, retardation of growth in children, impairment of cognitive skills and development in young children, and the serious economic burden placed on entire countries.

However, parasitic infections also affect persons living in developed countries, including the United States.