Askariasis B77.9

Tyson, 1683; Redi, 1684

Roundworm infection.

Ascaris lumbricoides, roundworm.

Absorption of the worm eggs by eating vegetables and fruit. The larvae hatch in the small intestine, migrate through the intestinal wall and enter the lungs with the blood. Allergic reaction to the worm and its metabolic products (ascarid allergens).

Clinically, allergic reactions to the worm and its metabolites have been reported in the form of urticaria, asthma attacks, volatile eosinophilic lung infiltrates (Löffler's syndrome), tenesmus and diarrhoea, and, more rarely, haemorrhagic intestinal changes. Accompanying itching.

Bluteosinophilic, complement binding antibodies.

Detection of worm eggs in faeces; ascarids are detectable in the intestine by X-ray contrast examination.

The symptoms are: a worm edema due to the clustering of several worms, jaundice due to the immigration of worms into the bile ducts.

• Means of the 1st choice: Pyrantel (e.g. Helmex): single therapy with 10 mg/kg bw/day as ED (max. 1 g). Cave! Pregnancy!
• Alternative: Mebendazole (e.g. Vermox) 2 times/day 100 mg p.o. for 3 days.
• S.a.u. worm infections.

1. Redi F (1684) Osservazioni intorno agli animali viventi che si trovano negli animali viventi. Pietro Martini, Florence, Italy
2. Kumar CS (2003) Prevalence of anemia and worm infestation in school going girls at Gulbargha, Karnataka. Indian Pediatr 40: 70-72
3. Scheidbach H et al. Ascaridiasis as an incidental finding after intraoperative cholangiography during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Central Bl Chir 124: 344-345
4. Tyson E (1683) Lumbricus teres, or some anatomical observations on the round worm bred in human bodies Philos Trans R Soc (London) 13: 153-161