Monday, June 3, 2013

SOIL - TRANSMITTED HELMINTHIASIS


SOIL-TRANSMITTED HELMINTHIASIS

It is astonishing with how little reading a doctor can practice medicine, but it is not  astonishing how badly he may do it (William Osler)

CLASSIFICATION
A.   Morphology
        Nematode ( Round worm )
        Cestode ( Tape worm )
        Trematode ( Flat worm )
B.   Transmission
        Soil-transmitted
        Food and water borne
        Insect and arthropod borne
C.   Intermediate Host
        1
        2
        3
D.   Location
        Intestinal worm
        Lung fluke
        Blood fluke
        Liver fluke
Nematode
  • Enterobius vermicularis
  • Trichuris trichiura
  • Ascaris lumbricoides
  • Hookworms ( Ankylostoma and Necator )
  • Strongyloides stercoralis
  • Trichinela spiralis
  • Wuchereria bancrofti
  • Brugia malayi
  • Loa loa
  • Oncocherca volvulus
  • Dracunculus medinensis
  • Toxocara canis aand cati
  • Gnathostoma spinigerum
  • Creeping eruption
Cestode
  1. Taenia solium
  2. Taenia saginata
  3. Hymenolepis nana
  4. Hymenolepis diminuta
  5. Diphyllobotrium latum
  6. Echinococcus granulosus
  7. Echinococcus multilocularis
Trematode
  • Schistosoma
  • Chlonorchis sinensis
  • Opistorchis viverrini
  • Fasciola hepatica
  • Fasciolopsis buski
  • Heterophyes heteerophyes
  • Metagonimus yokogawai
  • Paragonimus westermani
Soil-transmitted
  1. Ascaris lumbricoides
  2. Trichuris trichiura
  3. Necator americanus
  4. Ankylostoma duodenale
  5. Strongyloides stercoralis
 EPIDEMIOLOGY - WORLD
  • Ascaris : 1.5 billion
  • Trichuris : 1.3 billion
  • Hookworm : 0.9 billion
  • Strongyloides : 70 millions ; in developed countries mostly found in HIV patients
  • Ascaris and trichuris mostly in children
 PATHOGENESIS
  1. Most of the time, from egg in the soil
  2. Some eggs on the leaves/vegetables
  3. Children play in the yard / soil without any hand/foot protection
  4. Eat raw vegetables
  5. Hookworms can penetrate the feet
  6. Strongyloides larvae – not egg – penetrate the feet also
  7. Egg will hatch in the GI tract
  8. Ascaris will reach mature stage in the GI tract. Sometimes it can migrate to the lung ( pneumonitis )
  9. Trichuris will stay in the gut
  10. Hookworms will stay in the gut. If the entrance is blood vessels ( foot penetration ), at the end it still will move to esophagus and GI tract
  11. Strongyloides larvae use the same pathway as the hookworms 
 CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS
  • Gut signs and symptoms ( nausea, pain, vomiting, diarrhea, obstruction, mass, bloating, malabsorption, bleeding )
  • Anemia ; Growth and nutritional problems
  • Prolaps recti ( trichuris )
  • Obstruction of other organs ( trachea, bile duct )
  • Pneumonitis ( ascaris, hookworms, strongyloides )
  • Appendicitis, pancreatitis, peritonitis
  • Local irritation
 LABORATORY FEATURES
     1.   Routine Blood Examination
          –        Anemia
          –        Eosinophilia
          –        Growth parameter deficiency ( albumin, nutrients )
     2.   Stool
          –        Ova ( = egg ) à Egg per gram ( epg )
          –        Larva ( strongyloides, hookworms )
      3.   Serology

Stool
  • Kato – Katz
  • Koga agar plate
  • Baermann technique
DIAGNOSIS
  1. History ( pale, growth and development delay, parents found the worms, gastrointestinal symptoms, cough, living place )
  2. Physical examination – based on the history and possible clinical manifestations
  3. Laboratory ( blood, including serology, and stool ). If you can see the worm in the stool à must be very heavy infection
  4. Radiology, only if necessary
 TREATMENT
  • Anthelminthics
  • Supportive treatment ( nutrition, including the nutrients )
  • Symptomatic drugs ( fever, itch )
  • Rarely need surgery
  • Treat the whole family
 TREATMENT - DEWORMING
  • Ascaris is easy.
  • Trichuris is more difficult than ascaris
  • Hookworm is difficult and need longer time
  • Strongyloides is very very difficult
  • For nematode and cestode : mebendazole, albendazole, or thiabendazole can be used
  • For trematode : praziquantel
  • Other drugs : piperazine, pyrantel pamoat, ivermectin
  • Ascaris : pyrantel pamoat will make the worms paralyzed and died; mebendazole can make the worms die and block the gut
Most worm’s treatment programs need repeated effort ( regularly )

No comments:

Post a Comment