Trichuriasis

[Hina Muqadas]

Trichuriasis is infection with Trichuris trichiura. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, diarrhea, and, in heavy infections, anemia and undernutrition. Diagnosis is by finding eggs in stool. Treatment is with mebendazole , albendazole , or ivermectin .
(See also Approach to Parasitic Infections.)
Trichuriasis is the 3rd most common soil-transmitted roundworm infection. An estimated 604 to 795 million people are infected worldwide. Trichuris trichiura occurs principally in developing tropical or subtropical areas where human feces is used as fertilizer or where people defecate indiscriminately onto soil. Children are the most heavily infected. In the United States, most cases of trichuriasis are in immigrants or travelers returning from endemic areas with poor sanitation and hygiene, but there are locally acquired cases in some southern areas.
Infection is spread via the fecal-oral route. Ingested eggs hatch and enter the crypts of the small bowel as larvae. After maturing for 1 to 3 months, the worms migrate to the cecum and ascending colon, where they attach to the superficial epithelium, mate, and lay eggs.
Adult worms are estimated to live 1 to 2 years, although some may live longer.