Gross Human Parasites IV - Sparganosis for the Flesh-Lover

Keeping pets at home? Love sushi? Enjoy frog-congee? 

Sparganosis is a parasitic infection, the culprit is a type of tapeworm belonging to the genus Spirometra. Mammals such as dogs, cats and raccoons are the definite host (final host) of the parasites. 

Copepods, Frog, Cat. (The first, second and definite hosts)

The adult Spirometra living in the intestines of their hosts lay uncountable eggs which discharge during hosts' defecation. The eggs are then consumed by copepods, the first intermediate hosts; amphibians such as snakes and frogs preying on copepods are the second intermediate hosts. Within the first intermediate hosts, the eggs hatches and the larvae live in the body cavities of copepods; after passing to the second intermediate hosts, the larvae continue to proliferate and penetrate into the muscles and subcutaneous tissues of the hosts. The second intermediate hosts of this parasites are eventually consumed by wild carnivores such as dogs and cats, and the parasites mature in their definite hosts and complete their life-cycle. 

And how do human get Spargonosis? 

Human are actually the accidental hosts of Spirometra (or maybe not accidental). 

• consumption of raw water from rivers or lakes 
• open wounds on body contacted with Spirometra sources such as animal feces or raw flesh 
• consumption of uncooked or not-fully-cooked flesh 

Once infected, the parasites will move to various organs such as eyes and brains of the patients or subcutaneous tissues in various body parts. No symptoms will be seen from the beginning, and eventually as the parasites grow, bulges (nodules) will develop on the infected regions along with pain. For infection in the eyes, patients' eyes will bulge out. For infection in the brains, neurological symptoms such as loss of motor control can occur. 

A boy with ocular Sparganosis
Source: click here

Surgical removal of adult Spirometra from eye. 

It has been reported in China rural areas that villagers believed in old traditional methods of applying raw frog flesh to wounds to speed up recovery, and thus resulted in being infected by Spirometra. Majority of human Spirometra infection cases occur in Japan, Korea and China.

Retracting an adult Spirometra from a frog.

Antibiotics have been given to patients infected with Spirometra, however this is not really beneficial as a cure. The best way to get rid of the parasites is through surgery. 

Blood Suckers

First glance at the words "Blood Sucker", many will start to think of vampires or mosquitoes. BUT, I am not going to talk about either of them. The two extreme creatures that I am going to talk about, not only do they have disgusting appearances but are also blood-thirsty creatures.

They are the Fleas, and the Ticks.

Some facts about Fleas

Larva of a Flea. Source: Click Here

• Flea larva may live on the carpets, or any fabric surfaces.
• The flea larva actually feeds on the poop of an adult flea besides dead skin debris of animals.
Eventually, it will spin itself into a cocoon, and can stay inside for more than a year waiting for a host to arrive.
• Flea can jump 150 times its body length, which is about 240m high for a human being of 1.6m! In order to attach itself onto its host.
• The flea has a very poor eyesight, it can only sense its hosts through movement and concentration of carbon dioxide.

• It can drink blood of up to 15 times its body weight. In conversion, it is approximately 750kg of liquid consumed by a person with 50kg body weight!
  
• The poops it produces are rich in nutrients for larvae to grow.
• One of the best way to get rid of fleas, is the use of vacuum cleaner.

Some facts about Ticks

• A tick is an eight-legged bug, a relative to spiders.
• Very similar to fleas, a tick tracks its host by following the trail of carbon dioxide released by the hosts.
• A tick locates the blood vessels closest to the skin surface of its host, at which it will bite and start leeching for blood.
• The horrifying fact is that, a tick can drink up to a maximum of 600 times of its body weight of blood! (which is 30,000kg of fluid for a 50kg-person)

A female tick with eggs. Source: Click Here

• Once latched on a host, a tick may be 'glued' onto the host and suck blood for up to a few days. Until its body weight increases about several hundreds times its original weight!

Gross Human Parasitic Worms III - Roundworms

In the previous post, I have mentioned one of the parasites in human's digestive tract, the Tapeworm. In this post, another kind of human parasite, Roundworm, will be discussed.

Ascaris is a type of parasitic worm known as the Giant intestinal roundworm. This type of parasite infects human living in areas with poor sanitation. Roundworm is the most common type of human parasites worldwide, and its infection is named Ascariasis.

Roundworms live in the small intestines. The females can grow up to 40cm in length, weighing 9g and produce over 200,000 eggs everyday!

When Roundworm eggs are ingested, they will hatch in the intestines and burrow through the intestine walls. After that, they make their way to the heart, the lungs and finally break out into the alveoli as shown in the diagram below.

If large amounts of roundworms accumulate in the body, it will result in the blockage of intestinal tracts. At this stage, patients will feel intense abdominal pain. To examine if a person is infected with roundworm, stool sample can be send to examine and suspected cases can undergo an abdominal X-ray. In some cases where the blockage of intestine is too severe, surgery is required to get rid of the worms.

For more information of roundworms in your pets, check out: Roundworms in Pets

Gross Human Parasitic Worms II - Tapeworms

For as long as human exists on the Earth, there are many organisms that feed off, reside in, seek shelter from the human body.

In this post, the most common type of parasitic worm that reside in the digestive tract of a human. The tapeworm.

Tapeworms larva can be ingested by eating uncooked or undercooked meat. After the larvae arrive at the intestines, they will start to grow into adult tapeworms that can be as long as 30m (fish tapeworm), 40m (beef tapeworm)and 120m (some other species of tapeworm)!

And what's the most horrible part? When a person has tapeworm infection, there will be definitely more than one of those in the digestive tract. These intestine intruders, when at adult stage, lay millions of eggs each day! Just imagine that, the whole intestines of yours filled with those slippery wrigglers, it will sure send chills down your spine.

How does the tapeworm attach to the intestines?

Tapeworms have sharp hooks on one side of theirs heads. Those hooks drill into the lining of the intestines and simply provide anchor for the tapeworms.

Tapeworms are usually found on meat products, thus high protein diets are not good for a healthy life. Diet high in fiber is a good prevention against these disgusting worms, as dietary fiber promotes regular bowel and clears off these parasites from the intestine.

Gross Human Parasites I - The Guinea Worms

Guinea worm is the common name for Dracunculiasis, which thrives in some of the third world countries where clean water supply is not available.

If this worm is new to you, you may start to wonder what does the worm look like?

The answer is: Guinea worm looks exactly like a spaghetti noodle at mature stage (sorry to spaghetti lovers ) It can grow up to more than 90cm in length.

How do people get infected?

Well, at places where clean water is not accessible, people can get infected while drinking stagnant water that hosts tiny water flea that carry the larvae of Guinea worm. Once inside the stomach, the larvae take 1 year to mature and pierce through the walls of intestines to mate. The males will die after mating where the female worms burrow into the deeper connective tissues and attempt to leave the human host (usually through the lower limbs).

At this stage, as the Guinea worms try to burrow their ways out of the human hosts, painful blisters are formed on the human skin. The pain is excruciating with a burning sensation, human hosts often soak their limbs in cold water to ease the pain.

Once the blister or open-sore submerge into water, the female Guinea worms will take their chance and release thousands of larvae. The water flea will consume the larvae, and another cycle will begin.

Currently, there is no cure for Guinea worm disease. To remove the Guinea worm from a human host, one must wrap the worm in a stick once the worm emerges from the skin. Then, slowly, bits by bits, wound the worm around the stick by pulling the worm out of the skin. The whole process is long and painful, sometimes it might take more than 1 month just to extract the worm out of the body. (the worm is very long and is buried deep in the connective tissue)

I dare you to read this post while eating spaghetti. *EviL grin*