USAID's NTD Program

Roundworm: Ascariasis

Symptoms

In most cases infection with A. lumbricoides is asymptomatic. Symptoms are correlated to the migration of juvenile or adult worms in the concerned organ. The clinical effects include a wide range of manifestations. Most potential and common complications comprise pneumonitis due to passage of worms in the lungs, with pulmonary eosinophilia (Loeffler’s syndrome); intestinal obstruction by mass of worms; biliary obstruction and pancreatic obstruction by worms.^1-2 The intensity of clinical signs is usually related to the worm burden in infected individuals. Serious, even fatal, but less common complications of ascariasis result from the infiltration of the larvae into sensitive tissues, such as the brain, and from the migration of the adult worms into various body structures, where they produce abcesses and toxic manifestations. Infection with A. limbricoides may contribute substantially to child morbidity when associated with malnutrition, pneumonia, enteric diseases and vitamin A deficiency. Ascariasis adversley affects children's growth and development.^3-4

Learn more about roundworm:

• Epidemiology
• Life Cycle
• Diagnosis
• Treatment, Prevention, and Control
• Back to Roundworm Overview

References

1. Crompton DWT: Ascaris and ascariasis. Adv Parasitol. 48:285, 2001.
2. De Silva N, Guyatt H, Bundy D: Morbidity and mortality due to Ascaris-induced intestinal obstruction. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 91:31, 1997.
3. O’Lorcain P, Holland CV: The public health importance of Ascaris lumbricoides. Parasitology. 121:S51, 2000.
4. Crompton DWT, Nesheim MC: Nutritional impact of intestinal helminthiasis during the human life cycle. Ann Rev Nutr. 22:35, 2002.