Are white nematodes harmful to the body?

White nematodes refer to pinworms, which are parasites that live in the human intestines and are also parasites that appear in the bodies of many friends. There are a lot of patients infected with pinworms in the summer, especially children, because children's immune system is relatively weak and their gastrointestinal digestion is not fully developed, so they are susceptible to pinworm infection and harm.

The anal white nematodes are pinworms. It is an intestinal parasitic disease caused by pinworms parasitizing the human body. The incidence rate is higher in summer and autumn, and most of the infected people are children. Adult pinworms parasitize the human cecum, appendix, colon, rectum and lower ileum. Female insects are usually active at night. When a person falls asleep and the anal sphincter relaxes, some female insects crawl out of the anus and lay eggs on the nearby skin. The egg-laying activity of the female worm causes itching of the skin around the anus. When the sick baby scratches with his hands, the eggs contaminate the fingers and are then ingested through the mouth, causing self-infection. Infectious eggs can also be scattered on clothes, bedding, toys, and food, and can infect people through swallowing or inhalation through air. The main symptom of pinworm infection is itching of the anus and perineum caused by the female worm's egg-laying activities around the anus at night. Sick babies often experience nightmares, insomnia, irritability, weight loss, night terrors, or symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea.

How to tell if you have parasites in your body

Parents can observe whether their children have symptoms of parasitic infection based on their age and gender. The symptoms of having parasites in the stomach are also similar: weight loss, picky eating, frequent stomach pain (the pain is not severe, mainly around the navel), round white spots on the face, small purple-blue spots on the whites of some eyes, and frequent scratching of the buttocks due to anal itching. After deworming, the abdominal pain symptoms disappeared and the appetite gradually improved.

1. Ascariasis

1.1. Symptoms caused by larval migration: Ascaris eggs enter the lung bronchi and can cause symptoms such as cough, chest tightness, and bloody sputum. In severe cases, the virus may invade the brain, liver, spleen, thyroid gland and eyes, causing epilepsy, hepatomegaly and abdominal pain.

1.2. Symptoms caused by adult worms: loss of appetite or excessive eating and hunger, pica; frequent abdominal pain, mainly around the navel, and a preference for abdominal massage; some children may also become irritable, easily startled, or listless, and grind their teeth. In addition, foreign proteins in the insect body can cause allergic symptoms such as urticaria. Severe infection can cause malnutrition and affect growth and development.

Children with mild roundworms may have no obvious symptoms. Severe cases may cause loss of appetite, or a preference for eating foreign objects, a sallow face and thin body, abdominal pain around the navel that comes and goes, a soft abdomen, or the worms may be felt. The child may also be vomiting roundworms or having roundworms in the stool, and the stool may be dry and watery. Some children have light white spots, blue spots on the sclera, granular white spots on the lower lip, thin and greasy or peeling tongue coating, and a red tip of the tongue.

2. Enterobiasis

Pinworms, also known as nematodes, look like a white line and are about 2 cm (half an inch) long. They live in the large intestine of children and are sometimes excreted in the feces of children. Countless white worms can be seen wriggling in the feces. These are pinworms. Adult pinworms parasitize the human cecum, appendix, colon, rectum and lower ileum. When a person falls asleep and the anal sphincter relaxes, some female insects crawl out of the anus and lay eggs on the nearby skin. After laying eggs, most female worms die of desiccation, but a few can migrate back to the intestinal cavity through the anus. If it enters the vagina, uterus, fallopian tube, urethra, abdominal cavity, pelvic cavity and other parts, it may cause ectopic parasitism.

The most common symptoms of pinworm infection are anal itching and restless eye blinking. Local skin may develop dermatitis and secondary infection due to itching. Systemic symptoms include gastrointestinal irritation, such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite, as well as restlessness, night terrors, irritability and other mental symptoms.

3. Hookworm disease

Hookworm is a general term for nematodes of the family Ancylostoma, and the well-developed oral sac is its morphological characteristic. Among the nematodes that parasitize the human digestive tract, hookworms are the most harmful. Due to the parasitism of hookworms, the human body can suffer from long-term chronic blood loss, leading to anemia and anemia-related symptoms in patients. Hookworms are distributed worldwide, especially in tropical and subtropical regions, where infection is more common among people. It is estimated that there are about 900 million people infected with hookworms worldwide. In my country, hookworm disease is still one of the parasitic diseases that seriously endangers people's health.

Hookworm infection can cause dermatitis, and punctate papules or small blisters may appear on the thin skin between the toes or fingers and on other exposed skin. Hookworm disease can also cause respiratory symptoms such as cough, bloody sputum, fever, shortness of breath and asthma, blood in the sputum, and even severe hemoptysis.

It manifests as varying degrees of anemia, pale skin and mucous membranes, fatigue, and dizziness, which affect the physical and intellectual development of children. In severe cases, anemic heart disease may occur. The initial manifestations of digestive tract symptoms are bulimia, eating a lot and feeling hungry easily, but also weight loss. In the later stage, there will be decreased appetite, abdominal distension, pica, malnutrition, etc. In severe cases, blood in the stool may occur.

4. Red worm disease

The red threadworm is a giant intestinal parasite that can reach a length of 72 feet. A class of the phylum Platyhelminthes. All of them lead a parasitic life. Adults parasitize vertebrates, while larvae mainly parasitize invertebrates or use vertebrates as intermediate hosts. Half of the patients have abdominal pain, usually dull pain in the upper abdomen or the entire abdomen. A few patients have diarrhea. Symptoms include increased appetite, dizziness, etc.