Ascaris was my favorite parasite to study in parasitology. Their eggs will burrow into your skin and shit, and they can only really be killed with fire.

You studied parasitology? That is so fucking cool.

Uh well I took the class for a biology elective.

I would have thought there were medications to kill the parasite. Similar parasites found in dogs and cats are treated with Pyrantel.

Mebendazole is primary. Pyrantel is an alternative, but they can only treat it once they've become adults.

That's why dogs and cats get dewormed every two weeks up to four times. We have to wait for the eggs to hatch so we can kill the things before they spawn again.

Still, roundworm in a dog is not as bad as roundworm in a human. Though it is bad in its own right.

Infection occurs when unhatched juveniles are swallowed with contaminated food and water. They hatch in the duodenum, where they penetrate the mucosa and submucosa and enter lymphatics and venules. After passing through the right heart, they enter the pulmonary circulation and break out of capillaries into air spaces. Many worms get lost during this migration and accumulate in almost every organ of the body, causing acute tissue reactions.

Indiscriminate defecation, particularly near habitations, "seeds" the soil with eggs that remain viable for many months or even years. Resistance to Ascaris spp. eggs to chemicals is almost legendary. They can embryonate successfully in 2% formalin, in potassium dichromate, and in 50% solutions of hydrochloric, nitric, acetic, and sulfuric acid, among other similar inhospitable substances.

Cockroaches, dogs, chickens, windborne dust and even 20 German banknotes still in circulation have been detected as being contaminated. 25% of the world population is infected. Eggs were found in 3.2% school children's nasal mucosa in the Soviet Union, and is found in many countries that fertilize with night soil (human shit).

Prevalence in the United States is low; only 200,000 people were infected in the US in 1987.

Wandering adult worms cause various conditions, some serious, some bizarre, all unpleasent. The tropism (involuntary response to stimuli) of the female to squirm through the coiled tail of a male causes her to wander if no males are present. Overcrowding may also lead to wandering. Downstream wandering leads to the appendix, which can be clogged or penetrated, or to the anus, with an attendant surprise for an unsuspecting host. Upstream wandering leads to pancreatic and bile ducts, possibly occluding them with grave results. Multiple liver abscesses have resulted from such invasion. Worms reaching the stomach are aggravated by the acidity and writhe about, often causing nausea. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA INDUCED IN ONE WHO VOMITS A 45-CM ASCARID IS DIFFICULT TO QUANTIFY. Aspiration of a vomited worm can result in death. Worms that reach the esophagus, usually while the host is asleep, may CRAWL OUT THE MOUTH OR NOSE or into the trachea, causing suffocation or lung damage.


Most light infections are asymptomatic, and presence of worms may be determined only by spontaneous elimination of spent individuals through the anus.

Mebendazole is the drug of choice, with pyrantel pamoate as an alternative. No effective treatment for migrating juveniles has been found.

------"Foundations of Parasitology" Roberts and Janovy.

really interesting, rather disturbing. thanks! it made me feel pretty gross.

The kid on top looks like one of the guys being treated for radiation exposure during the Bikini Atoll Atomic experiments in the 40s.

I take it the kid in the first picture has proteus syndrome?

chernobyl kid

I called it. Cool. Still, pretty awful for that child.

I was about to call proteus too, but either way... damn.

gotta feel sorry for these kids.

Re: last one..

Resident Evil 5 has already taken care of that.

Re: last one..

I was thinking of a mishap with hotknives :(

hahaha, the LJ cut title = win of life.

Mutations I can deal with. Parasites? My God, Kill Me Now.

Anyone up for spaghetti? I've got a whole box of it on the boil right now..

right now i'm in goa, india
and i went to the other bathroom to throw something away
and i saw a worm in the toliet
oh shit
now i need to figure out who has worms in this place



shit, i have a feeling i'm going to have to detox when i get back to the states
ONLY 15 MORE DAYS

Reasons I'm glad I dont live in a 3rd World country.

(and that I'm an OCD neat freak)

in the crib

Christ, how many soccerballs can one lumpy kid need...and it's not like he's even gonna be able to play anything but goalie....