Sunday, February 1, 2015

Disgusting Human Parasitic Infections


Myiasis  - Myiasis is when people and warm-blooded animals are infested with maggots that thrive whilst feeding on the host creature's tissue. Flies usually prefer flesh wounds to infect as well as pee and poop-soaked fur, some specific kinds, which include the bot-fly, blowfly, and screw-fly, have the ability to infest intact skin and have even been slick enough to utilize wet dirt and non-myiatic flies like the housefly as vector agents for their parasitic larvae.


Tape Worm - Tapeworms are flat segmented worms that live in the intestines of some animals. Animals can become infected with these parasites when grazing in pastures or drinking contaminated water.

Eating undercooked meat from infected animals is the main cause of tapeworm infection in humans. Although tapeworms in humans usually cause few symptoms and are easily treated, they can sometimes cause serious, life-threatening problems. That's why it's important to recognize the signs and symptoms of tapeworms and know how to protect yourself and your family.

A splenectomy is surgery to remove the entire spleen, a delicate, fist-sized organ that sits under the left rib cage near the stomach. The spleen is an important part of the body's defense (immune) system. It contains special white blood cells that destroy bacteria and help your body fight infections when you are sick. It also makes red blood cells and helps remove, or filter, old ones from the body's circulation. If only part of the spleen is removed, the procedure is called a partial splenectomy.

Six types of tapeworms are known to infect people. They are usually identified by the animals they come from -- for example Taenia saginata from beef, Taenia solium from pork, and Diphyllobothrium latum from fish.

It is also possible to contract pork tapeworms from foods prepared by an infected person. Because tapeworm eggs are passed with bowel movements, a person who doesn't wash hands well after wiping and then prepares food can contaminate the food.



Tapeworms can cause nausea, weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, abdominal pain, hunger or of appetite, weight loss, and vitamin deficiencies.  Oddly enough, though, a tapeworm is barely noticeable other than maybe finding parts of the worm's segments in your poop.


Hook Worm - There are no specific symptoms of hookworm infection other than intestinal inflammation and anemia, which progressively gets worse. Larval invasion of the skin might give rise to intense, local itching, usually on the foot or lower leg, which can be followed by lesions that look like insect bites, can blister, and last for a week or more.

Animal hookworm larvae on penetrating humans may produce a creeping eruption called cutaneous larva migrants. The larvae migrate causing vesicular lesions. With advancing movement of the larvae, the rear portions of the lesions become dry and crusty. The lesions are typically intensely itchy.



Coughing, chest pain, wheezing, and fever will sometimes be experienced by people who have been exposed to large numbers of larvae. Epigastric pains, indigestion, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea can occur early or in later stages as well, although gastrointestinal symptoms tend to improve with time. Signs of advanced severe infection are those of anemia and protein deficiency, including emaciation, cardiac failure and abdominal distension.



Pin-Worm - Pin-worms spread through human-to-human transmission via swallowing pin-worm eggs or by "getting" them somehow in your rectum.  The eggs can remain viable in a moist conditions (which your esophagus, stomach, and anus would qualify as) for as long as three weeks.
After the eggs have been pooped out and remain near your anus, they can easily be spread to other surfaces.  I am guessing a toilet seat would be a good one and you better hope you aren't doing this person's laundry.  They commonly end up on a host's fingernails, hands, and obviously sheets and clothes.  The eggs can then spread to food, water, and household furniture and objects.

Pets commonly carry eggs in their fur and can be uninfected while this is happening so you probably won't even notice.  Dust containing eggs can become airborne and be very easily spread when subtly moved from items such as when you do laundry.  Subsequently, eggs can be ingested and inhaled without notice.  Inhalation causes you to eventually swallow the pests.

Pin-worms don't exclusively grow and reproduce inside a human host.  Larvae can also hatch in butt mucous and travel up the bowel and back into the intestines of the original host.  This is called retro-infection.  Antibiotics is a common solution of the "Enterobius Vermicularis Infection".