Ascaris lumbricoides

Question 1

Classification:

Answer 1

Metazoa

Question 2

Indirect or direct

Hosts

Answer 2

Direct life cycle

Humans are final hosts

Swine also carry the worms

Question 3

Transmission and life cycle

Answer 3

Adult worms live in the intestines. A female mates with a male worm and produces up to 20.000 eggs per day which are passed in the feces.

Fertilized eggs will develop in soil in warm and moist environment.

Larvae develop in these fertilized eggs.

Eggs are ingested, hatch in the intestinal mucosa and are carried by circulation to the lungs. Here they are coughed up, swallowed again and travel to the small intestine where they develop into adult worms.

Question 4

Diagnosis:

Answer 4

Microscopy
- stool sample to identify eggs.

Molecular
- PCR

Serological
-ELISA

Imaging techniques to see worms:
- X-ray, CTscan, MRI