Worm Infections

Worm Infections Microbiology 2314 Helminth Phyla • Phylum Annilida • Phylum Aschelminthes / Nematoda • Phylum Platyhelminthes How Severe Are Worm Infections? 70% 98% 2% So…Once upon a time, I had a student Folk Remedies • • • • • • • • Honey Spider Webs Kerosene Willow Bark Tea Eating Clay Maggots and Blow flies Leeches Chile Peppers Honey • Honey has been used as a cure for burns since it was recommended by Aristotle. Honey retains heat, so the burn must first be cooled with cold running water or ice cubes, then honey applied to the burned area. Raw honey contains antibiotics, and promotes healing of burns leaving very few scars. Not that long ago, East Bloc medics used raw honey for burns and blisters on soldiers in the field. Spider Webs • Spider web contains a substance that is very effective in stopping bleeding and preventing infection. Applying a wad of spider web to a fresh cut will stop the bleeding "I shall desire you of more acquaintance, good master cobweb," said the character Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. "If I cut my finger, I shall make bold of you." Kerosene • It was used to treat head lice. The person's head would be rinsed with kerosene which then would be left in for a period of time. The kerosene would be washed out and the treatment repeated when necessary. • Kerosene has also been used for hemorrhoids. Using a rectal compress saturated with kerosene still can afford many people relief, especially for extremely irritated, external hemorrhoids occurring after childbirth. • The most common and beneficial use for kerosene is as a first aid antiseptic for cuts and scrapes. Applying kerosene to a cut helps stop the bleeding and prevent infection. It promotes healing and does not burn. • Athlete's foot also responds well to daily applications of kerosene. Willow Bark • The use of willow bark dates back to the time of Hippocrates (400 BC) when patients were advised to chew on the bark to reduce fever and inflammation. Willow bark has been used throughout the centuries in China and Europe, and continues to be used by herbalists today for the treatment of fever, pain (particularly low back pain), headache, and inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. Although the bark of the white willow is most commonly used medicinally, the bark of related species, such as black willow, have been shown to have the same beneficial effects. Clay • Eating earth (geophagy) is universal. You do it in a refined manner each time you chug Kaopectate, Di-Gel, Rolaids, Mylanta, Maalox, or Donnagel-PG. In these products, the active ingredients of clays (kaolin) or certain earths (calcium carbonate) have been isolated from the earth mass, but that slippery, earthy feel still stays in the mouth. Biotherapy • J.F. Zacharias, a Confederate medical officer in the Civil War, is documented as having used the larvae of the green blow fly to prevent gangrene in wounded soldiers. Gangrene occurs when a body part dies due to interference with its nutrition. "Maggots in a single day would clean a wound much better than any other agents we had at our command," reported Zacharias. "I am sure I saved many lives by their use." Leach • In 1994, a woman's scalp was ripped off when her hair was yanked into moving machinery. Doctors performing micro-surgery at the University of Southern California reattached the scalp, but one area swelled with congested blood. They applied leeches, one at a time for eight days, to suck up stagnant blood. Eventually new capillaries, or tiny blood vessels, formed in the scalp wound, leading to healing circulation. All leeches have two suckers — one on each end of its body — and the mouth end has hundreds of teeth. When applied to an injury or reattached limb, leeches dig their teeth right into the flesh and start sucking. Surprisingly, the bite doesn't seem to hurt. That's because leech saliva contains a natural anesthetic, or pain-killer. Leach • Leech saliva is also full of other important curative chemicals. One is called hirudin, which keeps blood from clotting. Scientists have devised a method to genetically engineer hirudin, which they hope to prescribe as an alternative treatment for unclogging blood vessels during heart surgery. • Another leech benefit is an agent that prevents bacteria from infecting the wound area. And a third is a vasodilator, which causes human blood vessels to open. Leeches Reduce the Pain of Osteoarthritis • Results from a pilot study on osteoarthritis of the knee as reported in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. • The study focused on 16 patients, average age 68, who had had persistent knee pain for more than six months. Exercises, physiotherapy, relaxation techniques, and dietary changes were already part of their treatment program. • Leech therapy was tried on 10 patients, eight of whom were women. Six others were given conventional treatment for pain. Four leeches were applied to the painful knee and left in place for one hour and 20 minutes. Pain measures were recorded three days before the start of the treatment and 28 days afterwards it had finished. • Leech treatment produced rapid pain relief after three days, with the greatest effects registered 24 hours after treatment. Patrick L., recovering at Harborview Medical Center, was lifted from the deck of a fishing ship off the Aleutians after his hand was severed by a fish saw. More than 24 hours after the accident, Laulu was in an operating room at Harborview Medical Center, where a medical team reattached bone to bone, artery to artery and nerve to nerve. Leeches were used to reestablish blood flow and reduce swelling. Chile Peppers http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/bushmedicine.html Parasites in the Human Body Pinworms Adult Pinworm Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm) filled with ova Ova of Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm) Case Study 1 • Background: Enterobius vermicularis is known to produce perianal and ischioanal abscesses and invade the peritoneal cavity via the female reproductive system, causing pelvic peritonitis. However, there are only rare case reports on the cytodiagnosis of these parasitic lesions. • Case: A 28-year-old woman was admitted with a tender left iliac mass and greenish vaginal discharge. Ultrasonogram scan confirmed the presence of a mass lesion suggestive of a tuboovarian abscess. Cytologic examination of the pus obtained revealed the presence of ova of E vermicularis and fragments of the adult worm in an inflammatory exudate consisting predominantly of neutrophils, eosinophils and occasional epithelioid cell granulomas. Paraffin sections of the tuboovarian mass showed granulomas, but neither ova nor any worm section was identified. Although the possibility of tuberculosis was considered histologically, Ziehl-Neelsen (Z-N) stain for acid-fast bacilli was negative. Z-N staining of the smear and mycobacterial culture of the pus also did not yield positive results. Case Study 2 • The section through the lumen of the appendix reveals a female pinworm, Enterobius vermicularis. In this cross section, numerous eggs measuring 50 to 60 microns by 20 to 30 microns are seen. The eggs are flattened on one side. The female migrates to the perianal region to lay eggs, resulting in pruritis ani. Direct ano-oral infection can occur; the eggs can remain viable in the environment for two weeks and are resistant to most household disinfectants. Trichinella Trichinella Trichinella spiralis Encysted in Muscle Tissue Hookworm Whip Worm and Hook Worm Eggs Ascaris Ova of Ascaris lumbricoides Guinea Worm Lelmi Malik writhes in pain as Solomon Olukade attempts to remove a guinea worm from her ankle in the village of Dunkure, Nigeria. Malik had four more worms extracted this day. Guinea Worm Guinea Worm Guinea Worm Guinea Worm Guinea Worm Tapeworms Tapeworm Scolex Tapeworm Proglottids Tapeworm Proglottid with Eggs The proglottids are basically segments containing a uterus filled with ova and a genital pore for release of ova. Flukes Chinese Health Poster Warning Against Fluke Infections Chinese Health Poster Warning Against Fluke Infections Eggs in the liver. Two of the several eggs in this section are labeled, and the granulomas (*) that have formed around the eggs are typical of the damage that occurs in the livers of infected hosts. Loa Loa Worms Loa Loa This woman has leopard skin and skin lesions on both legs. A patient infected suffering from river blindness. This elderly man shows nodules, skin changes and blindness, all manifestations of the disease. Nodules (removed from under the skin of infected people) contain the adult worms. Loa Loa in Eye Loa Loa in Eye Loa Loa Extraction Lymphatic filariasis The mosquitoes become infected by feeding upon infected animals, and the ingested worms move from the insect's stomach to lodge in its flight muscles. Then, over a period of days, they move from the flight muscles into the space between the walls of the the labium. The labium is filled with haemolymph (insect blood) and can become filled with infective larvae. When it is bent during feeding, the resulting increase in pressure causes a rupture at the tip (labellum), releasing haemolymph containing worms in a pool around the puncture site. When the mosquito withdraws its stylets, the worms will enter the host bloodstream via the puncture wound. Lymphatic filariasis • Spread by mosquito bite • Lodge in lymph vessels • Results in fluid retention with swelling in extremities Lymphatic filariasis, also known as elephantiasis. Vectors are located along the equator. The long, threadlike worms block the body's lymphatic system--a network of channels, lymph nodes, and organs that helps maintain proper fluid levels in the body by draining lymph from tissues into the bloodstream. Cercarial Dermatitis Whip Worms This tight coiling is characteristic of nematode worms. Whip Worms Prolapsed Rectum So once Upon a Time, I had a student… Dermatobia hominis. And then another time… • A 20-year-old college student went to his doctor with draining sores on his right arm and back. He had a "twitchy" sensation around the lesions for 1 week. One month earlier, he returned from an extended trip to Costa Rica, where he camped in the rainforest and swam daily in the ocean. The sores developed and worsened over the past several weeks, and he was treated twice with amoxicillin-clavulanate (Augmentin). Nothing was helping. Diagnosis: Botfly And then another time… This young boy was minding his own business when he felt an eye irritation. Thinking that it was just regular dust, he started to rub his eye, in an effort to remove the dust. Then his eyes got really red, so his mom bought some eye drops from the pharmacy. Again they dismissed it as dust & continued rubbing, hoping it would go away. As the days went by, the swelling of his eye got worse & the redness increased until his mom decided it was time to go and see a doctor for a check up. The doctor immediately wanted an operation, being afraid of a tumor growth or cyst. It wasn’t a tumor! FYI What was thought initially to be just mere dust actually was an insect's egg...... At the operation, what was thought to be a growth or cyst, actually turned out to be a live worm (actually an insect larva). The female botfly glues her eggs onto the abdomen of a captured mosquito or other common fly. When the carrier insect lands on a human, the larva, or bot, hatches, burrows into the skin, and positions itself "head down" to feed, breathing through caudal respiratory spiracles. A furuncle with a central pore develops as the bot matures, molting twice until reaching 18 to 24 mm. Your Honor, my hosts name was Johnson. I swear that I didn't know he was taking the kids out of the country