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Intestinal worms & schistosomiasis

Helminthoses et schistosomiasis · Střevní červi a schistosomóza

What it is

A quarter of the world carries them: roundworm, hookworm, whipworm, and the blood fluke.

Symptoms & signs

  • Often none
  • abdominal pain
  • anaemia and fatigue (hookworm)
  • blood in urine (schistosomiasis)
  • itchy bottom (threadworm)
  • malnutrition in children

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now Vomiting with a swollen belly and no stools or wind
  • see a doctor soon Blood in the urine or stools after swimming in fresh water in the tropics
  • see a doctor soon Tiredness, pale skin or breathlessness from anaemia
  • see a doctor soon Weight loss or poor growth in a child

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Albendazole or mebendazole
  • praziquantel for schistosomiasis
  • treat the whole household for threadworm
  • iron replacement
  • mass deworming programmes
  • moxidectin for river blindness — FDA-approved 2018

Natural & lifestyle

  • Footwear and sanitation
  • hand washing and short nails
  • hot-wash bedding
  • avoid freshwater in endemic lakes

Emerging & experimental

  • Schistosomiasis vaccines in trials

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Papaya seeds — a small trial cleared intestinal parasites in children early / small studies
  • Pumpkin-seed and wormwood 'parasite cleanses' — untested anecdotal / traditional

ICD codes