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The soil-transmitted helminths (also called geohelminths) are a group of intestinal parasites belonging to the phylum Nematoda that are transmitted primarily through contaminated soil. They are so called because they have a direct life cycle which requires no intermediate hosts or vectors , and the parasitic infection occurs through faecal ...
In 2014–15, the WHO estimated that approximately 2 billion people were infected with soil-transmitted helminthiases, [6] 249 million with schistosomiasis, [60] 56 million people with food-borne trematodiasis, [61] 120 million with lymphatic filariasis, [62] 37 million people with onchocerciasis, [63] and 1 million people with echinococcosis. [64]
Soil-transmitted helminths are essentially intestinal parasites and their eggs which are liberated along with the faeces of infected persons into the soil. Ascaris and hookworm eggs become infective as they develop into larvae in soil. Infection occurs when vegetables and fruits, contaminated with soil-infested eggs, are consumed; or when hands ...
Helminth eggs can reach the soil when polluted wastewater, sewage sludge or human waste are used as fertilizer. Such soil is often characterized by moist and warm conditions. Therefore, the risk of using contaminated wastewater and sludge in agricultural fields is a real problem, especially in poor countries, where this practice is prevalent.
WHO have since 2001 had a strategy for control of soil-transmitted helminths, including whipworms. This strategy entails treating at-risk individuals in the endemic areas. Risk groups for whipworm infections are children at preschool and school-aged children, people with specific high-risk jobs, women in reproductive and pregnant and ...
It is a type of soil-transmitted helminthiasis and part of a group of diseases called helminthiases. [6] Prevention is by improved sanitation, which includes improving access to toilets and proper disposal of feces. [1] [7] Handwashing with soap appears protective. [8]
Strongyloidiasis is a type of soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Low estimates postulate it to affect 30–100 million people worldwide, [1] mainly in tropical and subtropical countries, while higher estimates conservatively extrapolate that infection is upwards to or above 370 million people. [2]
Parasitic worms (helminths) are the cause of soil-transmitted helminthiases. They are classified along with arthropods, tardigrades and other moulting animals in the clade Ecdysozoa. Unlike the flatworms, nematodes have a tubular digestive system, with openings at both ends.