Ascaris lumbricoides – Life Cycle

Natural History of the Large Intestinal Roundworm of Humans

© Rosemary Drisdelle

Wash Vegetables Well to Remove Ascaris Eggs, Dria Peterson

Ascaris lumbricoides is the large intestinal worm familiar to people all over the world. This roundworm infects people when they swallow soil containing infective eggs.

An adult Ascaris lumbricoides worm is larger than the average earthworm. Though it is not an earthworm, A. lumbricoides has a close relationship with the soil: that is where infective eggs of the roundworm parasite lie until they are swallowed by a human.

Ascaris Roundworm Facts and Basics

Ascaris lumbricoides is virtually exclusively a human parasite, meaning that it does not infect dogs, cats, or other domestic animals, with the possible exception of pigs. The large intestinal roundworm of pigs, Ascaris suum, is very similar to A. lumbricoides and there is considerable evidence that A. suum occasionally infects humans and vice versa.

The whole process from swallowing the egg to having mature worms in the intestine takes between two and three months. The worms live, on average, about a year and a female can produce up to six million eggs in her lifetime. No wonder this is one of the most common intestinal worms of humans.

Read more about Ascaris lumbricoides:

Ascaris lumbricoides

Other intestinal parasites of humans:

Giardia lamblia and Giardiasis

Cryptosporidium parvum - Parasite

Other interesting topics in microbiology:

Syphilis Infection

HIV Infection and Response

Sources:

Clinical Parasitology 9th ed. Beaver, Paul Chester, Rodney Clifton Jung, and Eddie Wayne Cupp. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger, 1984.

Diagnostic Medical Parasitology 3rd ed. Garcia, Lynn S. and David A. Bruckner. Washington: ASM Press, 1997.

Foundations of Parasitology 6th Ed. Roberts, Larry S. and John Janovy Jr. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000.


The copyright of the article Ascaris lumbricoides – Life Cycle in Human Infections is owned by Rosemary Drisdelle. Permission to republish Ascaris lumbricoides – Life Cycle must be granted by the author in writing.


Wash Vegetables Well to Remove Ascaris Eggs, Dria Peterson
       


Post this Article to facebook Add this Article to del.icio.us! Digg this Article furl this Article Add this Article to Reddit Add this Article to Technorati Add this Article to Newsvine Add this Article to Windows Live Add this Article to Yahoo Add this Article to StumbleUpon Add this Article to BlinkLists Add this Article to Spurl Add this Article to Google Add this Article to Ask Add this Article to Squidoo