Does your child have stomach worms? Let's learn exactly about roundworm infection (Ascariasis)!

Does your little one often cry, "Mommy, my stomach hurts"? Or does he show symptoms like loss of appetite and vomiting? This is a familiar experience for many parents in our country. One of the main reasons for this is intestinal worms. So today we are going to talk about such a very common, but well-known worm infection. This is called Ascariasis.

What is Ascariasis?

Simply put, ascariasis is an infection that occurs inside our intestines. It is caused by a type of roundworm called `Ascaris lumbricoides` . This worm, which looks like a worm, is a parasite. This means that these worms use our bodies as their home to spend their lives, grow, and lay eggs. As these worms multiply inside our bodies, the damage they cause to us increases.

These worm eggs are passed out of our bodies with our feces. Imagine what happens if someone with this infection defecates in a place where there are no toilet facilities. The worm eggs in that feces accumulate in the soil and, within a few weeks, become capable of infecting someone else. Then, if the soil containing these worm eggs is accidentally touched by our hands and goes into our mouths, a new infection begins. Since these eggs are too small to be seen with the naked eye, they can enter our bodies by eating soil-contaminated, improperly washed vegetables and fruits, or by drinking dirty water.

This disease is common in countries like Sri Lanka, especially in areas with poor sanitation. It is very rare in countries like America.

Are there any types of these worms?

Yes. Most often, this infection is caused by a type of worm called `Ascaris lumbricoides`, which is specific to humans. However, people can also get this infection from a type of roundworm called `Ascaris suum`, which lives in the body of pigs. This risk is especially high for people who raise pigs or use pig manure.

What are the symptoms of this disease?

It's amazing how if you only have a few worms in your body, you may not show any symptoms . You may have a stomach ache that goes away after a while. Often, the first time you notice this disease is when a worm comes out of your vomit or stool. These worms are about the size of a pencil, between 6 and 13 inches long, and look like a normal worm.

However, if the number of worms increases, symptoms will appear. Those symptoms also depend on where the worms are in the body. Because this worm roams in different parts of our body at different stages of its life cycle.

How is this disease transmitted?

This disease is transmitted through hand-to-mouth. That is, if you touch something contaminated with the eggs of the roundworm `Ascaris lumbricoides` and then eat food with those dirty hands, or if you put your hand in your mouth, these eggs enter the body.

Think about our little child. He runs around in the garden, playing, touching the dirt. Then, if he eats a biscuit with the same hand without washing it with soap, if there are these worm eggs in that dirt, they can easily enter the child's body.

It can also be spread in these ways:

• Touching soil containing worm eggs and placing those hands in or near your mouth.
• Eating raw vegetables and fruits grown in soil with worm eggs without washing them thoroughly with clean water, peeling them, or cooking them.
• Drinking water contaminated with worm eggs.

What does this worm do inside our bodies? (Life cycle)

This is a very strange journey. Let's see what happens from the moment this worm swallows an egg.

1. Journey to the intestines: Swallowed eggs travel to our intestines. There, tiny larvae hatch from the eggs.

2. To the lungs: These larvae crawl through the intestinal walls and attach themselves to our blood vessels or lymph vessels. From there, they go directly to the lungs. They live there for about two weeks.

3. Back in the throat: Then, these larvae travel up the airways from the lungs and into our throats. Then, when we cough and bring them back up, we unknowingly swallow them again.

4. Back to the intestines: The swallowed larvae go back to the intestines, where they develop into fully grown worms. That's where they congregate and lay eggs. A single female can lay over 200,000 eggs in a day!

5. Release into the environment: These eggs are passed out of the body with our feces.

This complete life cycle takes about two to three months. Once released from the body, it takes several weeks for these eggs to be able to infect another person. Amazingly, these eggs can withstand harsh weather conditions and remain active for up to 17 months.

What are the dangerous conditions that can occur if left untreated?

Although this is a curable disease in most cases, it can lead to serious complications if left untreated, especially in young children.

• Intestinal obstruction: If a large number of worms accumulate in the intestines, the passageway through which our food and waste pass can become completely or partially blocked. Like a traffic jam. This is an emergency. You may even have to go to the ETU (Emergency Treatment Unit) .
• Inflammation and swelling: When worms cause obstruction in this way, severe inflammation of organs such as the pancreas (pancreatitis), gallbladder (cholecystitis), or bile ducts (cholangitis) can occur.
• Malnutrition: Worms in the intestines absorb nutrients from the food we eat. It's like stealing our nutrition. This can cause malnutrition, especially in children, and stunted growth .

Diagnosis and treatment of the disease

If you or your child has any of these symptoms, you should definitely see a doctor .

How to diagnose the disease?

Once the worms are in your intestines, your doctor will ask you for a stool sample . They will examine it under a microscope to see if there are any worm eggs or worms.

It is difficult to diagnose the disease in the early stages when the infection is in the lungs. If the doctor is suspicious at that time, he may order a chest X-ray. Also, ultrasound, CT, or MRI scans can be used to see where the worms are inside the body and the severity of the infection.

How is it treated?

This is treated with antiparasitic medications, which kill the adult worms. These medications are usually taken for one to three days. As you continue taking the medication, your symptoms will start to improve before all the worms are dead.

Medications prescribed by the doctor may include drugs such as `Albendazole`, `Ivermectin`, and `Pyrantel pamoate`.

These medications often only kill adult worms. They don't have as much effect on the larvae in the lungs. Therefore, the doctor may tell you to take another round of medication in about one to three months , after giving the larvae time to develop into adult worms.

How can you protect yourself from this disease?

"Prevention is better than cure," they say. So, there are some very simple, yet very important things we can do to protect ourselves from this infection.

It is not a good idea to wait for the worms to get better on their own without taking medicine. This can lead to the complications we discussed above. Also, if you live in an area where the disease is common, you are more likely to get it again. Therefore, if you have symptoms or see worms in your stool, seek medical advice immediately.

Roundworm infection, Ascariasis, Stomach worm problem, Ascariasis, Ascaris lumbricoides, Worm disease, Pediatric diseases, Stomach ache