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By Alana Rheiner

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Monsters in the Ground

Surprise! Guess you didn't know that there were parasites that could
live in the soil did you? Well, they can and they do. One lovely parasite
that is very well known is the hookworms. There are two types of
hookworms that target humans and their names are Necator
Americanus (necatoriasus) and
Ancylostoma Duodenale
(ansylostomiasis). Hookworms
are the second most common
worms that infect humans (the
most common is Ascaris
Lumbricoses, aka Giant Round
worms) and whoever named
these fellows as hookworms

Strongyloides Stercoralis
What a name! Very fitting for these intestinal worms, because they
don't have to have a host at all, and can survive and thrive in the soil.
Fun fact of the day is that for this species of worms, only the females
infect humans, and once inside the body they reproduce asexually!
Who needs men when you live inside a persons intestines! So here is
the 411 on how to become infected by these feminist parasites. All you
have to do is touch the infected soil and the larvae will penetrate your
bare skin and enter into your bloodstream. She then will reside in
your lungs and then will be evacuated by coughing shortly followed by
being swallowed. Once they make their way into the small intestines it
is there that they do their feminist magic. Before they can asexually
reproduce they have to molt twice to become fully grown adults. After

was a genius because they look

like worms (adults are a pinkish gray) and they bury into you with just
a simple touch and then once it reaches its favorite place (the
intestinal mucosa in the small intestine) it hooks itself in place and
starts sucking blood from there. The best way to avoid becoming
infected is to avoid walking barefoot on the ground, and avoid
accidentally (or deliberately) eating dirt (unless it is clean dirt, then go
for it!). (Oz) In case it is too late, and you think you might be infected,
there are numerous symptoms to look out for; anemia, constipation,
congestive heart failure, decreased rate of growth and mental
development in children (caused by protein and iron deficiency),
diarrhea, dizziness, dyspnea (shortness of breath), excessive coughing
(they migrate through the lungs, are coughed up and then swallowed
to get to the intestines), fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, rash
or sore and itchy feet (after larval invasion), stomach or chest pain,
vomiting, and weight loss. When you think you might be infected and
you visit the doctor, they are going to take a stool sample to see if you
are infected, and then they will perscribe you a drug like a
benzimidazoles (albendazole and mebendazole). Unfortuneatlly once
in a while hook worms make their way into the muscle tissue and can
remain dormant for years and can cause furture infections. On the
positive side of the life of hookworms, they rarely are lethal. It is said
that sometimes people swallow them voluntarily to cure autoimmune
diseases because the parasites draw the attention of your immune
system away from the healthy cells to focus on the foreign organisms.
(Parasites in Humans)

this happens they burrow themselves into the intestinal wall and begin
their asexual magic.
The eggs that are
produced then have a
choice to make. Either
they will stay inside
the host and repeat
the life cycle inside
their lovely host, or
they will exit through
the anus and start a
life of their own and
possibly meet a man
that they could love.
In the outside world the only infective larvae are the larvae that have
molted twice, or the molt four times to become adults and will soon
die after. So lets say that you happen to be the wonderful host of these
burly wormy's, the way you could tell that you had squiggly guests
would be by having anemia, constipation, cough, diarrhea, nausea,
rashes in the waist and buttocks, stomach ache, vomiting, and weight
loss. Unfortunetly for those who have an autoimmune disease or a
immunocompromised patients (and immune system weakened by
another disease) these guests can cause distension, neurological and
pulmonary complications, septicemia, shock, and even death. To
kindly and forcefully ask your guests to leave, your doctor would
prescribe you ivermectin which only kills the adult worms, so you
would have to take it periodically in order to completely rid yourself

Toxoplasma Gondii is a parasites that can do something quite

incredible, it can control (or at least influence) its hosts behavior. For
example in rats or birds it causes the animal to not be afraid of cats

of them. Thiabendazole and albendazole are other drugs that are

sometimes used also. (Parasites in Humans)

because that is the preferred host of this body borrower. If a human is

infected, this parasite can still have influence over the hosts fears. In

Giardia Intestinalis is so tiny that you have to look

at it under a microscope in order to see it! I found
that the weirdest thing about this peewee parasite

infected women, they are more likely to cheat on their husbands or

boyfriends, and in men they are more likely to be aggressive. This
parasite is easily transferred and infect another through blood
transfusions or organ donation (very rare), consuming under cooked
infected meat, ingesting water or soil (such as putting dirty fingers in
your mouth) that is contaminated by infected cat feces, or passing it
from mother to child through breast feeding. Because of this easy
transfer and they
really don't have any
other symptoms it is
really difficult to stop
this parasite so over
30% of the world
population is infected
by this little creature.
The most severe
symptoms that can
occur with these
parasites is in a

is that when it reproduces, it does so by binary

fission. The life cycle of this mini pear shaped
little one starts out as a cyst. This cyst is brought
into this world through our two cheeks down south and once they see
the light they stay on our hands until washed, can live in water for
months, surfaces for weeks, and clothing, food and anything that is
not really hot. (Diagnose me) Once they make it back into a human
host it makes its way to the small intestine where it releases two
trophozoites which feed there until they have had their fill. Once they
are full they preform binary fission and then become cysts as the
move their way out of the body. These are most easily passed on by
anal-oral-sexual intercourse. The odd symptoms of these nanoscale
creatures include bloating, bad breath and farts, dehydration,
diarrhea or greasy floating stools, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea,
stomach ache, weakness and weight loss. In order to flush out these
interesting parasites you can take metronidazole, tiniadazole,
nitazoxanide, paromomycin, quinacrine, and furazolidone. (Parasites
in Humans)

pregnant mother.
(CDC) The parasites
can break through the
wall of the placenta
and infect the child.
This can cause brain
enlargement or cause the head to be smaller, brain damage or eye
damage, or even miscarriage. There are people who do show
symptoms of these bugs who have weakened immune systems. When
these people are infected they could develop central nervous system
disease, brain lesions, pneumonitis, retinochoroiditis, confusion,
fever, headache, nausea, poor coordination, or seizures. In order to
be free of these parasites there are many different drugs and pairs of
drugs that would cause them to die, but in pregnant women you have
to be especially careful in what kinds of drugs are used because of fear
of harming the child. (Parasites in Humans) Some of the drugs that
are prescribed are pyrimethamine with either trisulfapyrimidines or
sulfadiazine, plus folinic acid in the form of leucovorin calcium to
protect the bone marrow from the toxic effects of pyrimethamine.
There are many more but those are the most common ways to treat
them. Tada!

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